Card Captor Ashura: Dark Apprentice
by shadowphantomness
Summary: Continuing the CCA story, now Ash is a card master! But life is not easy. He has to face a more obstacles, as well as change all the pokemon cards into Ash cards. And now he's stuck in another dimension... COMPLETE After Episode 77 a new arc begins
1. a badge, money, and giant teddies, oh my...

Episode 41. Ha! I bet you didn't think I'd get this far.

Ash: **Hi! Another little bit from me!**

Shadow: Hey! Did I say you could do this?

Ash: ***big puppy dog eyes* Aww….**

Shadow: *Sweatdrop* Never mind, never mind, carry on. 

Ash: **Anyways, in case you're wondering, changing cards takes a lot of energy, so that's why I have to sleep so much!**

Pika-chan: *Snicker* Well, you sleep quite a bit without changing 'em.

Ash**: _Pika-chan!_ *Mortified***

Pika-chan: Hi to all of my worldwide fans! Another visit from the Eternal Winged Pikachu of greatness! *Wink, wink*

Shadow: Maybe I should just let them talk from now on…

Ash: **Wish me luck!**

Pika-chan: See ya!

Shadow: Ja ne! The fic will begin shortly!  
  


Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Shadow does not own pokemon. My spell has been cast. *Holds up hypnosis pendant* you will not sue me!

Notes: Timeline wise, about two and a half weeks after the last Episode. Ash is now on his way to Saffron, with Giovanni's blessings and some help.

Note: As always, indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and _italics_ indicates translated poke speech.

DARK APPRENTICE ARC BEGINS

Episode 41: A badge, money, and giant teddies, oh my!

            "Bye!" Ash said, as he waved to Giovanni. During his two-week recuperation stay in Viridian, Giovanni had taught him a lot of useful battling techniques and pokemon information. Plus, Giovanni had given him a very useful belt called the AIPL (Advanced Identification Pokemon Locater), which consisted of a black circle attached to six plates, with lots of buttons on it (the locator part), four strips of dark red leather which fastened in the back, which could each carry twelve poke balls, and a miniature laptop as well.

            "Goodbye, Ash! Good luck defeating the Saffron Gym leader!" Giovanni said. "I expect you to win!"

            Pika-chan also waved good-bye. Giovanni was a really good cook! It hadn't been bad at all!

            Ash walked over to the city limits and released his flying type. "Come on Storm, let's go!"

            Storm materialized in a spray of rain. Pika-chan applauded.

            "That was really good, Storm! Let's fly!"

            Storm nodded as Ash and Pika-chan climbed on. Then, she took off. 

            "And please don't do too many loop-de-loops this time." Pika-chan pleaded. "I'll be sick!"

            _If you wish_, Storm said, tinkling laughter filling the air. Then, she began to fly above the clouds.

            Pika-chan shot Ash a relieved look when Storm flew along a smooth, level course. * Ah, thank Mew. *

            Ash looked amused. So, Pika-chan is afraid of heights? But you have wings, right… the wind ruffled his hair as he smiled.

            Pika-chan chose to stay silent until they landed in Saffron.

            When they got there, Ash went straight to the gym, because he had already healed his pokemon in Viridian. * I'll fight Candice some other time. Besides, she seems swamped already, with so many challengers. *

Sage Chow had not located the pokemon card master in Lavender Town, much to his relief and dismay. 

"I am glad he is not in that horrible place, but where is he? I must inform him of this problem."

Sage Chow sighed. "I suppose I shall have to scry again." He headed over to a pool of still water and drew another chalk circle.

"Tell me, where is the Card Master now?"

The mirror shimmered, showing Ash standing in front of the Saffron City gym.

Sage Chow sighed. "At least it is a relatively short walk from Lavender to Saffron…"

Meanwhile…

Todd watched morosely. He didn't enjoy being dead! It was so boring! For some reason, his future was still being discussed. He was unable to go to heaven, but he wasn't bad enough to go to hell. This usually meant that the person in question would be reincarnated.

Finally, a girl with long blue-green hair that fell to her feet in shadowy waves beckoned him over.

"The Fates have decided your situation, and they have decided to reincarnate you."

"As what?"

"You'll see… and don't worry, you won't start off as a baby!" She said, winking teasingly.

            Todd felt himself falling. The last thing he noticed before he blacked out was that he wasn't a bug…

Saffron City Gym

            "Althea, I challenge you for the Soul Badge!" Ash said.

            A girl with dark brown hair down to her waist, amber-colored eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, and dressed in a purple jumpsuit jumped down from a fancy 'throne'. Ash blinked. The 'throne' was very ugly… blue and orange striped.

            "I am Althea." She said in what was meant to be a deep, spooky voice. It would have probably freaked anyone else out, but Ash was used to hearing Sabrina speak in monotone, so he wasn't very impressed.

            Pika-chan felt Sabrina tap into her mind. She is purposely trying to mimic my style! 

            Oh. Well, I hope your taste wasn't this bad to begin with! Pika-chan sent.

            Sabrina mentally slapped Pika-chan. Are you implying that I have bad taste? 

            Pika-chan shrugged. Never mind. 

            "This shall be a one-on-one battle." Althea said primly. "Choose your pokemon. Choose wisely, I warn you."

            "Skymew, I choose you!" Ash said. He smirked at the look on Althea's face. "What better to fight a psychic pokemon with another psychic pokemon?"

            Sabrina slipped from Skymew's mind and watched silently. This may prove interesting… 

            Skymew happily did a few midair acrobatics, as she was glad to be out of the confines of the poke ball.

            "Kadabra, go!" Althea said.

            Sabrina blanched. She's even copying my pokemon! But she let Skymew decide what she wanted to do. Skymew immediately put up her bright blue bubble shield, as a precaution.

            "Skymew, use Surf!" Ash said. * That's going to be hard to dodge, even if Kadabra is a psychic. *

            Skymew smiled and began filling the arena with water. Ash levitated himself a few feet up, so he wouldn't get soaked.

            "Kadabra, Teleport." Althea said. Kadabra tried to Teleport out of the way, but it still got pretty wet.

            "Now use Spark!" Skymew grinned as a beam of electric energy formed around her tail, before she whipped it around and threw it all out Kadabra.

            "Eep! Kadabra, dodge!" Althea said, losing her composure. Usually, her challengers would get so freaked out that they would randomly throw attacks, but this one was different!

            "Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded. At a close range, there was no way those bubbles could miss. He was right. The Kadabra was nailed easily and fell over, cross-eyed.

            Althea reluctantly surrendered the Marsh Badge, some money, and the TM Psywave.

            "Thanks, see ya!" Ash said, as he waved goodbye to Althea.

            Sabrina was still fuming silently. * I can't believe they gave my position to a copycat! Sheesh, what happened to originality? *

            Ash happily skipped off. Suddenly, he bumped into someone.

            "Oh, I'm sorry- TODD?!" Ash couldn't believe it. This person had the exact same aura! But that was impossible!

            Todd brushed a strand of shiny black hair out of his eyes. "Actually, you can call me Teresa."

            "You're a girl?" Ash peered at Todd closely. Yep. It was definitely a girl, with medium-length black hair in three ponytails and indigo colored eyes. She wore red corduroy overalls and a shiny silver stretch top. 

            "Well, technically, yes." Teresa said. "I'm mostly the same person, slightly different life experiences, and different pokemon, but otherwise, I'm still me!"

            "How did this happen?" Pika-chan wanted to know.

            I believe that Todd should not have died during the Final Judgment. Therefore, he was given a second chance. Sabrina said telepathically in all of their heads.

            "Oh." Ash said.

            "So, what's been happening?" Teresa wanted to know, as they walked along. "I still have a lot of pretty costumes for you!"

            "Nothing much." Ash said.

            "Nonsense." Pika-chan said. "I'll tell you! Ash is working hard, trying to change the pokemon cards into 'Ash cards', and-!"

            Ash sweatdropped. Teresa had gone all starry-eyed.

            "I knew something exciting was going to happen! Don't worry, I'll make you lots and lots of pretty new costumes!"

            "Oh no." Ash said in an undertone.

            He would have said more on the subject, but just then, something dashed out of the gym.

            "What was that?" Ash said, hand automatically going to his star key.

            Teresa noticed this and began dragging Ash into an alleyway. Ash sighed loudly.

            "Don't worry! I always carry around a couple!" She said, yanking cloth out of her front pocket. "Try this one on for size!"

            Ash sweatdropped. But he took the costume from her. 

            When Ash came out, Pika-chan whistled. Ash wore a pale, sea green coat that followed his body but split into two halves at the waist, sort of like a coat with two wings at the ends. The cuffs and collar were white lace. Under this, he wore forest green leggings and a forest-green long-sleeved shirt, and his feet were encased in pure white leather boots.

            "Woohoo! Looking good, Ash!" Pika-chan whistled. "I like it!"

            "Whatever you say, Pika-chan." Ash said, as he withdrew his key. "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!" Wind energy swirled around him and the key grew into the staff.

            The shadowy form resolved itself into the form of… a gigantic teddy bear.

            "No way!" Ash said in stunned disbelief. "This just keeps getting stranger and stranger! First a piano, and now a teddy bear?"

            The Teddy Bear didn't seem to mind his cries of annoyance, as it quickly tried to swat him with a gigantic paw.

            "Arcanine!" Ash shouted in fright. The card didn't even go through the speech, it just glowed and turned white as the wings on his staff temporarily changed. Immediately, Ash hopped on its back and they took off running as fast as they could.

            "This doesn't look very good…" Pika-chan muttered to herself.

            The bear began knocking down buildings to try and reach them. Pika-chan sighed, irritated, but she was kind enough to erect an electromagnetic field around Teresa to protect her from any possible damage.

            Teresa grinned impishly, flipped her hair, and focused her video camera to get a closer view of Ash's battle.

            Ash gulped. "This doesn't look very good…"

            "Quick! You have to find the energy source and disable it! Then, you can defeat the bear easily!" Pika-chan commanded.

            "Easy for you to say…" Ash said. He closed his eyes and began concentrating. Soon, he detected an area of dark energy near its ear.

            "The ear is its weakness!" Pika-chan said triumphantly.

            "Scyther!" Ash said, transforming into the bladed pokemon and flying up towards the teddy bear, trying to hurt it.

            But unfortunately, the bear swatted him with a giant paw and sent him flying into the roof of the Saffron City gym.

            He didn't get up.

End Episode 41! Ohohohoho! Shadow is evil! I need at least 9 reviews before I post the next chapter, see ya! Flames will be used to create Light, to blind Nelvana's workers so they can't dub anymore! 


	2. on silver wings of hope

Episode 42! Wai! 

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Nintendo refused to see it to me. Plus, even if I made any profit from this, Destiny would probably take it all… 

Destiny: *Innocent look* Would I?

Shadowphantomness: Of course you would!

Destiny: *Spooky voice* I find your lack of faith disturbing. Also, you should update faster.

Shadowphantomness: Ack! Gomen, I'm writing as fast as I can!

Note: SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING QUICKER. I have almost no Internet access at home, and….

Ranma – yep, cloaked stranger causing problems all right! ***Sigh* **Yep, that scene w/Pika-chan and Serebii was wan fun to write! Teresa… Hmm…

Tmp – Sunny zapped the Machamp…

NO, ASH IS NOT DEAD. He's just fainted. Teresa _will_ die in the future, do not worry. Sage Chow is trying to protect Ash…

Snowtiger – yep, I want Giovanni to be nice! Serebii is great!

*Eats sundae happily * Thank you! The Eriol person is causing trouble! Sabrina has a right to fume.  
Pikacar/Marle – THANK YOU! Giovanni and Delilah are getting married after the Indigo League Championships, which is about 40+ episodes away… 

Pokemon Reader – happily summons Dark card. YAY! Thank you for your nice reviews!

STK – nice! Thanks! It's supposed to tie in…

Matthais-8888 – THANKS! No, Ash is _not_ going with Teresa. I thought I corrected that mistake! **Sighs**

Sapphire (male) – THANK YOU! *Grins happily *

Satoshi – No, you are not dead. Thank goodness! 

Trutenor – Grins, well, thank you very much.  
  


Episode 42: On silver wings of hope

            "ASH!" Pika-chan shouted as she dived down towards him. When she got there, she immediately pulled out a Hyper Potion and sprayed him with it.

            Ash gasped as he awoke. He felt like he had been through twelve hours of physical education.

            "What happened?"

            "You tried to cut off the bear's ear in Scyther form, but it hit you really hard and you landed here." Pika-chan explained. 

            "But how can I defeat the bear? If Scyther doesn't work, than what will?"

            "I don't know…" Pika-chan said. "I know that you can't combine Arcanine and Scyther's powers together, because then you won't be able to get within range of the bear. But you can't use a flying type because you need your wand for that, and you can't use both your wand and Scyther's blades at the same time! It's hopeless!"

            Pika-chan would have said more, but at that very moment, a scream came from Teresa. Pika-chan, being the altruistic guardian that she was, rushed over to help. She still felt kind of guilty about Todd dying last time, and she didn't want it to happen again, because this time, there might not be a second chance.

            "Watch out!" Pika-chan shouted as she dived in front of Todd and transformed into the Eternal winged Pikachu of Greatness, wings shielding them both from the falling debris.

            "Ash…" Pika-chan whispered, as she dedicated her energy to blast away falling bricks and mortar with electromagnetic pulses.

            Ash struggled as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I summon the elements of fire, ice, and thunder. May the three mystic forces of nature combine! Now reveal to me my destiny, and my true form will revive!" Golden light swirled around him. Ash breathed a relieved sigh as he felt the beginning of his transformation into Destiny. 

            Somewhere else…

            "Oh no you don't!" A voice said. "Lock! Seal this form until the final battle has come to pass!"

            A pink card pulsed with red energy, before sending out a red ring that hurtled through cross dimensions until it reached Ash.

            Ash blinked as his transformation abruptly stopped and then reversed, forcefully shoving him out of the protective magical force field.

            "What's going on?" Ash asked.

            Pika-chan looked worried as she deflected more debris.

            Ash knelt down, tears in his eyes. "What's wrong? Why can't I transform into Destiny? I need my wings so I can defeat this anomaly! I can't use Scyther and Arcanine together, but if I have wings I'll need to use my staff!"

            A single tear dropped onto the tiles. "Please, Pidgeot, work together with me!" The wings on his staff expanded, as the card was also changed. But instead of Pidgeot appearing in front of Ash for him to ride, two brown-and-white Pidgeot wings sprouted from his back. He drifted up towards the bear; his shredded coat falling off, revealing his dark green attire underneath.

            Pika-chan gasped. She had never seen partial transformation before! No, it wasn't that. Pidgeot was lending Ash her magic energy!

            "Scyther!" Ash called. This time, the effect was the same. Instead of summoning Scyther or transforming into it, Ash watched as his staff was changed into a deadly sword, mounted with Scyther's wing blades.

            Ash flew towards the bear at breakneck speed, heading for the ear. The bear barely had time to blink in confusion before its ear was gone. Instantly, it shrank into a tiny Ursaring plush doll.

            From the ear fell a scrap of paper.

            Ash picked it up. "It's a magic circle." He said, awed. "The magic circle I used when I was still a card captor."

            "So it is…" Pika-chan said. She detransformed and went over to Ash. Teresa followed, still videotaping.

            "Too bad your coat got ruined."

            Ash sighed. He had nearly gotten killed and she was worried about his clothes? That was so… Todd. But they were the same person, so…

            Pika-chan noticed his exhaustion and hurriedly tossed him the Wand. Ash sighed in relief as light poured over his body once again, replenishing his magic supply and healing his wounds.

Elsewhere…

            "Not bad…" 

            "Master, wasn't that a bit harsh? Sealing his real form so he cannot use it to gain an advantage?"

            "Don't worry, it will all work out."

            "If you say so…"

A Sage Chow snippet!  
  


            Sage Chow was getting heartily sick and tired of trying to locate the elusive Ash Ketchum. The kid traveled too much! Why couldn't he stay in one place? When he had arrived in Viridian by mistake, Ash was already gone. Of course, he should have gone to Saffron, but he had decided to stop by Viridian first just in case Ash had forgotten something and run back.

            "Where is he _now_?" He asked nobody in particular.

            There was no reply.

            Sage Chow restrained the urge to bash his head against the floor. "This is just _not _my day, is it?"

            But in the midst of despair, hope arrived.

            In the most obvious but not that noticeable form. That of the Sakura Card Hope, which Sage Chow had been carrying around for goodness knows how long.

            The pale card shimmered, and a faerie-like being appeared.

            "Hello!" It said in a cheerful voice. "I believe I can help you."

            Sage Chow gasped. "Really?"

            "Well, of course! Let's see, I think the Chosen is in Saffron City right now, the pokemon center. I'll take you there!"

            "Thank goodness." Sage Chow said. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all…

            Ash pulled out another card. "Abra, use Frameshift."

            Abra nodded, before it remolded time to exclude the bear incident.

            Ash changed out of his costume in a public restroom, before heading back to the center.

            "Wai! Kawaii!" Teresa said, little stars floating in her eyes. "This is so cool! Yay! Now you can use all those extra costumes I made!"

            "Teresa…" Ash admonished. Teresa took no notice and continued to prance around. A sweatdrop formed on Ash's head.

            "Never mind…"

            Sage Chow landed with a thump in the Emergency room of the Saffron City pokemon center.

            _Hello. How may I help you?_ A passing Chansey asked, as it walked by with a cart of antivenin.

            Sage Chow looked around, noticing that this was not the main lobby of the hospital. "Is there a boy named Ash staying here right now? I need to talk to him about something of utmost importance."

            Chansey rubbed her chin meditatively as she thought hard. _He probably went off to fight the gym leader. I don't know when he'll be back._

            "Please tell me when he does." Sage Chow said. He settled himself in a convenient chair and picked up a magazine.

            About fifteen minutes later, Ash, Pika-chan without her wings, and Teresa walked into the pokemon center.

            "I can't believe that my power was sealed!" Ash said for the umpteenth time.

            "Yes, you already said that." Pika-chan said placidly. "It must be terrible. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to revert back to my true form."

            "But what can we do?" Teresa asked as she brushed her bangs out of her face. "It's not like we can just hunt down whoever did it and force him or her to reverse their magic."

            "You are correct. If the person was powerful enough to seal Ash's inborn abilities, it would be severely unwise to meet him face-on."

            "I know, but I just can't help feeling frustrated." Ash said, his voice rampant with vexation.

            "Excuse me." Sage Chow interrupted.

            "Yes?" Ash asked, turning around and seeing a bald man in grey robes and a brown leather vest.

            "Are you the Pokemon Card Master?"

            Ash glanced around suspiciously. "Yes, why?"

            "I have something of much importance to say to you."

            Ash glanced at Pika-chan, as if to ask her permission. 

            Pika-chan nodded almost imperceptibly. Ash motioned for Sage Chow to follow him outside.

            "Who are you and how do you know about the pokemon cards?" Ash asked.

            Pika-chan interrupted. "He's one of the descendents. That's why he alone, retains his knowledge in this dimension. But what does he want?"

            "Excuse me." Sage Chow interrupted again.

            Ash and Pika-chan both turned back to him. "All right, what do you want to tell me?"

            "I came to warn you about potential dangers. The Sakura Card book, which was left in the shrine under my care, has vanished. Whoever took it was powerful enough to break the wards and defeat the guardians, so you should be on your guard."

            Ash didn't look very impressed. "I already know that! So far I've been attacked by a piano and a giant teddy bear!"

            Pika-chan looked thoughtful. "Hmm… the Sakura card book? All fifty-two cards were taken?"

            "Yes." Sage Chow replied.

            Pika-chan turned to Ash and they locked eyes. Ash, be careful. The Clow Cards are very powerful. 

            I understand. Ash replied. 

            "Well, that's all." Sage Chow said; a bit concerned that the Card Master wasn't freaking out. That wasn't normal!

            "Bye then. I'll be careful." Ash said. 

            Sage Chow walked off.

            "Where should we go now?" Ash asked.

            Pika-chan rubbed her chin. "Hmm… I vote for Lavender Town."

            "You want to go back there?!" Ash asked in disbelief.

            "Trust me Ash, there's something _very_ important there that I have to confirm."

            "Then it's settled! We're going!" Teresa said, popping out from behind them suddenly.

            "AAHHH!" Ash and Pika-chan screamed. Teresa blinked.

            "Did I do something wrong?"

End Episode 42! 

Comments and Constructive Criticism heartily welcome! Wish me luck on the SAT II's! Flames will be used to burn all the AP and SAT study books after I pass the tests…

Frameshift is _my_ attack! So is Desert Storm!

POLL: If Teresa leaves (or dies), should Tracey take her place in the Johto arc?

Question: Which 2 Johto pokemon should Ash catch? (Specify normal, dark, or light in addition to the name of the pokemon species)

Who would get mad at me if I wrote championshipping and Lance was a girl?

Note: Please, refrain from using abbreviations in your reviews. I am not well versed in the art of internet msn speech, and it is confusing to try and figure out what they mean sometimes…


	3. the hunt for the vengeful ghosts!

Hi! Shadow here! 

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Shadow owns Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan, cards, chants, etc.

Timeline: Three days later

Pointless fact: Every time you breed an Eevee, you have a 1/8 chance of getting a female. I have bred 25 eevees and they are all male. The probability of this is only 0.035! I must be really unlucky…

Sorry for not updating sooner, but ff.net was down every time I tried!

Ranma – Hi! Hey! *Smacks Destiny* I need breaks too! Anyways, Championshipping is ok, yay! You want Teresa more than Tracey? Yes, Tracey is annoying. Thanks! No guess for pokemon yet? Keep thinking!

Pikacar/Marle – yep, I tormented Sage Chow quite a bit. Another vote for no Tracey! Yes for Championshipping. *Smiles* Light Espeon and dark Umbreon? But Umbreon's already dark… thanks for voting though!

Kai – thank you!

Silver#2 – thank you very much! Don't know my score yet…

Tmp – You want Tracey more than Teresa. I assumed so, since you're the one who keeps telling me to kill her off… Gary will come back, but not until later. I'm not telling who blocked off Ash's form, it has to wait! Yes, someone else will be using the Sakura cards though… not Ash… Ash is calm because he's already been so freaked out that you can't do much more to him. Go back to Episode 17 in CCA: Star's Ascent to read about the Sakura cards. No, I don't think Kero-chan and Yue will be here… they're kind of gone or dead, or still sleeping.

Gomen = Sorry

SnowTiger – you _like_ Teresa? Oh well, I'm glad someone does. Yes, she will act like Tomoyo now that she is a girl. Everyone likes eevelutions, so I'll add another vote for Light Espeon and dark Umbreon! Either way is fine, 'kay! Thank you! I think I did pretty good on the writing test. *Winces* Of course, that might be a bad thing.

Episode 43: The hunt for the vengeful ghosts!

            This time, when they set out for Lavender Town, Ash was much more nervous than he had been before.

            "What's wrong?" Pika-chan queried. He looked terrified, almost!

            "Pika-chan, last time I was there, I nearly drowned, remember?" Ash reminded her. "Besides, I lost to Candice too! That was terribly humiliating!"

            Teresa looked shocked. "You actually _lost_?"

            "Yes, but it was inevitable." Pika-chan said. "He tried to use unchanged pokemon cards. We found out that night that he had to change pokemon cards into Ash tree cards before he could use them, because of his new magic type."

            "Oh." Teresa said. She sighed. "Too bad I wasn't there to videotape that. It would have been so cool!"

            "Teresa..." Both Ash and Pika-chan had sweatdrops running down their heads. Pika-chan went all super deformed, as Ash watched in surprise.

            "Are you going to fight the gym leader first this time?" Pika-chan asked, after she had recovered from her SD form.

            "I'm not sure. There's a _really_ long line." Ash said, recalling his experiences in the Lavender gym.

            "In that case, do you want to check out Pokemon Tower?" Teresa asked.

            "Maybe that would be a better idea. What do you think, Pika-chan?"

            Pika-chan crossed her arms and thought as she floated up and down in midair. Finally, she seemed to come to a decision.

            "Let's check out Pokemon Tower first. It's not safe to go inside at night."

            "Sounds good to me!" Teresa said. "And while we're at it, which costume do you want?" She immediately began pulling costumes out of the little black mini backpack that she was wearing.

            Ash gaped. * Must be subspace. * He thought. Both he and Pika-chan watched the growing pile of costumes with trepidation. 

            "I don't know…" Ash finally said.

            "Okay, than I'll pick one!" Teresa said cheerfully as she nodded her head, pigtails bouncing up and down. "This one!"

            Ash and Pika-chan both turned. Apparently Teresa's style had undergone _some_ improvement. She was holding up a black silk jumpsuit top and pants, with a silver symbol for psychic pokemon on the front. The belt was sky blue, with silken loops to hold nine poke balls on it. From the back sprouted a pair of bat wings, held in place with wire and silken ties. And with it came sky blue boots and silver gauntlets. 

            Ash went and changed behind a bush. When he came out, he was holding a poke ball.

            "Since we've already been to Lavender, we can Teleport there, right?"

            "Hai!" Pika-chan said, as her ears fluffed up.

            "Well, let's go!" Ash said, as he tossed out his poke ball. "Skymew, use Teleport!"

            Skymew surrounded them all with blue-white light, before they all vanished – and appeared on the roof of the Pokemon Center.

            "Oh well, at least we're in Lavender Town." Ash said.

            "Yeah." Pika-chan said. She shrugged. "So, shall we head for the Tower?"

            "Just a second." Ash said. He began rifling through his backpack. "Ah, here it is. Silph Scope." Ash placed it over his eyes, so he could see the ghost pokémon in the tower clearly.

            "Wow, you're lucky. I just have an Infrared scope." Teresa said as she pulled out her own. They walked towards the tower.

            Soon, they managed to get inside, with Oddish's help. Oddish had used poisonpowder to stun the guard stationed near the door.

            "Look at all the pokemon graves." Ash said in awe. "There must be hundreds of them!"

            Pika-chan shivered. "I feel sort of cold, Ash."

            Teresa took advantage of this to give Pika-chan her own miniature black cape with bat wings. Pika-chan wrapped herself up in the warm woolen fabric and sat on Ash's backpack, feeling better.

            "Do you see anything yet?" Teresa asked. She wished she had better goggles, nothing was showing up on the infrared screen.

            "Just outlines…" Ash said. "This is strange… this place ought to be crawling with ghost pokemon."

            "This silence is very unnatural." Pika-chan said in a choked voice.

            Ash spun around. "Pika-chan, are you okay? You sound sort of strangled-!"

            And he saw the ghost of a Tangela clamped to Pika-chan's neck.

            "Pidgey, I choose you! Use your Whirlwind attack to blow that thing away from Pika-chan!" Ash shouted. Pidgey appeared and began flapping her tiny wings as fast as she could. The Tangela went flying.

            Pika-chan took a few deep breaths and massaged her neck. "Owowowow! That left quite a mark!" 

            "Are you okay, Pika-chan?" Ash asked. Pidgey perched in his head and looked around, trying to spot any other ghosts.

            "I think I'm all right." Pika-chan said.

            "Good." Ash said. He would have said more, but than more of the ghosts started appearing and attacking.

            "Yikes! Storm, Ponyta, Oddish, Butterfree, Sunny, Skymew, go!" Ash shouted. The six pokemon joined Pidgey as they beat down the attacking forces. However, even Teresa could see that they were tiring from the continuous assault. She also noticed that Skymew seemed to be weakening, though she was still beating down the ghosts with Psybeams and Psychics.

            "Ash, what are we going to do?" She asked.

            "I'm thinking!" Ash said, as he jumped out of the way of an attacking Gastly. "Thunder stars!" Six sharp golden stars created from crackling electricity streaked towards the ghosts.

            "You'd better use your cards!" Pika-chan called, as she blasted the nearest ghost with a Flamethrower attack. "You don't have enough chi or mana to keep your spells going for too long!"

            "I know!" Ash said, as he threw his key into the air. "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!"

            Magic energy swirled around him as the staff formed.

            "Vileplume! Ivysaur! Blastoise! Wigglytuff! Electrode! Dratini! Growlithe!" Ash called, as white energy streaked around all seven cards and turned them instantly into Ash cards. The pokemon he had summoned immediately streaked into the fray.

            "No way…" Teresa said as she nearly dropped her video camera. " He changed _seven_ at once?!"

            "Ash! Stop! You'll run out of energy!" Pika-chan shouted.

            Ash staggered as he leaned against his staff. His vision started to blur as he leaned forward, shaking.

            The Growlithe card noticed and ran over to him. Ash collapsed to his knees.

            Are you all right? It asked anxiously as it sniffed him.

            "I think so…" Ash said, as he steadied himself. "Don't worry about me. Help the others drive away the ghosts!"

            Very well… Growlithe said as it bounded off. But it still cast a worried look in his direction before it started using Bite on the swarming ghost types. Two haunters and a Gengar went down in a hurry.

            Pika-chan flew over. "Whatever possessed you to pull a stunt like that?!" She shouted in his ear.

            Ash winced as she went into lecture mode. By the time Pika-chan was done, the pokemon cards and pokemon had already worked together to finish off all the ghost pokemon.

            "Well!?" Pika-chan finally finished. She would have said more, but noticed that her Chosen was all swirly-eyed from energy loss and the lecture.

            "Oh well, you were spared this time." Pika-chan said as she forced a Hyper Potion down Ash's throat. Ash spluttered as he awoke, but at least he was not drained anymore. For some added insurance, Pika-chan tossed him some Magic Berries.

            Ash sighed. "Sorry, Pika-chan."

            "Yes, you should be sorry! Don't do that again!"

            "But how else was I supposed to defeat all of those ghost pokemon?"

            "Well, you could have used Pidgeot! You already changed her! Or Arcanine!"

            "Okay, okay! I won't do it again…"

            Pika-chan nodded and patted him on the head. "That's right! Now that we've cleared out all the ghost pokemon, let's explore!"

            Teresa stepped out from behind a pillar. She was completely undamaged, not even a strand of hair out of place.

            "Yeah!" She said, seconding Pika-chan's idea.

            Ash followed the two enthusiastic people up to the second floor. 

            On the second floor, there weren't as many graves. In fact, the graves here were mostly unkempt with broken tombstones.

            "I wonder why nobody ever bothered to clean this place up?"

            "Maybe its because it was haunted?" Pika-chan asked.

            Teresa shrugged and kept videotaping as they walked around. Soon, Ash discovered a Potion lying abandoned on the floor. He pocketed it. Pika-chan spotted an Antidote a few minutes later, so they took that too. But what unnerved all three was the deafening silence, unbroken even by their soft footfalls as they walked through the dusty corridors.

            "Do you think there's someone else here?" Pika-chan whispered.

            "Why are you whispering?" Ash whispered back, as they walked past an ominous statue of a Persian.

            "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right."

            "But other trainers have been here before without too many problems." Teresa said. "Where else could these items have come from?"

            "I think the question we should be asking is, 'why are they here?'" Ash corrected her. "And frankly, that topic does not seem safe to dwell upon at the moment.

            "Darkness… all around, no light…" Pika-chan muttered to herself. "Nothing can live under those conditions! Perhaps there were wild pokemon here who died from lack of food, and their spirits now roam the tower."

            "Eek!" Teresa said as something brushed against her leg. Looking down, she saw it was a thin, purple Rattata.

            "Oh, phew. I thought it was a ghost." She said in relief. "Here, you must be hungry." Teresa gave the Rattata a cracker and it bounded off.

            "Wait! Come back!" Ash said. He immediately bolted after the fleeing rodent pokemon.

            The Rattata darted into a dark room. Ash followed. Pika-chan shot after him, Teresa following, still videotaping.

End Episode 43! What will Ash find? Review and find out! Flames will be used to forge Sword, and then I'll use it to ruin all of Nelvana's expensive dubbing equipment! *Smirks nastily*


	4. gateway to another universe

Episode 44! Shadow takes a deep breath and closes her eyes in satisfaction. 

Note: I am posting another chapter because I am happy with my reviews. ^_^

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Shadow does not own pokemon. Clear? Good! Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan. Mine!

Note: The story takes on an unexpected turn in this chapter, and a few minor characters suddenly become major characters.

Note: If you've read this far, you ought to know this, but… indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and _this_ is translated poke speech!

Note: The Ashura cards arc is divided into two halves. The beginning and the end are the normal Ashura cards arc, but in the middle, there is the 'Dark Apprentice Arc'. During this time, Ash is transported into another universe and… when he returns to the normal pokéverse episodes later, it's like no time has passed.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not want any flames on Charlotte being a Mary Sue/Self Insertion. I took the pokemon Mary-Sue test and got 15, which means it's not even borderline Mary Sue yet. She has at least 3 major flaws. She does not fall in love with Ash or anyone else, and nobody falls in love with her. The reason why she is powerful will be introduced later and ASH is more powerful than she is! So, before you flame me, read this. And if you still flame, I will publicly denounce you! *GROWLS*

Episode 44: Gateway to another universe.

            When Ash skidded to a halt inside the room, he was surprised at what he saw. In the middle of the dark, empty, cavern, there was a pedestal of finely wrought silver, inlaid with emeralds in mysterious circular patterns.

            "Where did that Rattata go? I could have caught it!"

            "Ash!" Pika-chan shouted as she charged in, guns blazing. (Literally) "Are you hurt? Are you all right? Did it bite you?"

            "Pika-chan, I'm fine." Ash said to his hyperactive guardian. 

            Pika-chan would have said more, but than Teresa came in, panting for breath, and knocked her over.

            "You run really fast, Ash!" Teresa said, as she gasped for air.

            "Oh. Sorry." Ash said. He went over and checked her over. She seemed okay, except for the shortness of breath, which would only be temporary, so Ash turned his attention to something else.

            "Where did Pika-chan go?"

            "Right here!" A muffled growl came from beneath Teresa's shoe. Teresa _slowly _lifted her right sneaker up, to reveal a slightly squashed and very irate guardian.

            "Pika-chan!" Ash said, scooping her up. "You have tread marks on your back!" Indeed, there were gray marks on her once-brilliant fur. And on her cape as well.

            "So I do." Pika-chan said dryly. "Why am I not surprised?"

            No one answered. Teresa looked very sheepish and eeped.

            "Where'd it go, though?" Ash asked.

            Pika-chan shrugged. "It probably has a nest somewhere, Ash. Don't worry too much over one Rattata."

            "I know." Ash sighed. Without knowing so consciously, he leaned against the pillar. Slowly, subtly, a pale light began to seep out, but no one noticed.

            "Still, should I send out Skymew to try and find it?" Ash asked, tossing her poke ball up and down.

            Pika-chan shrugged. "Whatever you want-!" Her words turned into a scream as the pillar began to vibrate and green light surrounded all three.

            A portal opened, and another portal closed. They were hurled across space and time, dimensions flashing across their eyes as nanoseconds passed.

Dimension CP: Where Charlotte resides

            Charlotte yawned as she finished typing up her essay. "There. All done. Now, I can go to bed."

            Vulpix-chan nodded sleepily from her little basket on the floor. "That's great. Although life has been more boring ever since you went back to school."

            Charlotte shrugged, and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "And your point is?"

            "We haven't had any adventures ever since you went cross dimensions to see the other card captor! Aren't you bored? Those were the good old days…" Vulpix sighed, yawned, and began to daydream.

            Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly at her guardian, but she didn't say anything as she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and went to bed. Only when she was sure Vulpix-chan was asleep did she start to talk softly to herself. 

            "You're wrong, Vulpix-chan. I miss them as much as you do. But we can't bring those old days back. We can't turn time around, as much as we would like to. We're stuck with nothing but memories…"

            Charlotte sighed as she changed out of her school uniform into a pair of comfy light blue pajamas. Then, she climbed into bed and promptly willed herself to fall asleep, since she had an early class the next morning.

            "Ouch!" Pika-chan squeaked as she landed on her head. Looking around, she saw that she was in a bathtub. Confused, she climbed out and scampered off to explore, all the while searching for Ash.

            Ash groaned as he landed in a tree. Somehow, he had gotten wedged between two thick branches and was now in an exceedingly uncomfortable position. Ash tried to move his legs, but they seemed to be stuck. 

            "Great." Ash said, as he tried to free himself using his arms. "This is not working at all."

            After a few moments of quiet contemplation, Ash pulled out his star key. "Oh well. I'll just cloak myself in invisibility so no one can see me." So he did. 

            "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me. Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release." He managed to say this all in a whisper, since he didn't know if there was anyone nearby.

"I wonder where Pika-chan and Teresa went." Ash wondered as he pulled out a pokemon card. "Oh well. First, I have to get out of here. Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form. Your new master Ashura commands you, Release!" The wings on Ash's staff grew bigger and touched the card, and then it turned white.

"Marowak." Ash said softly. The card glowed and the bone-wielding pokemon appeared in front of Ash in a glow of pale white light.

"Marowak, can you help me out of this tree?" Ash asked. Marowak shrugged and began using its bone to knock chunks of wood out of the branches. After a few minutes, Ash managed to free his left leg. Then, he used it to push himself up. 

"Thanks, Marowak." Ash said, giving the pokemon a hug before it changed back into its real form. Marowak saluted before it became a card once more.

Ash would have said more, but then he fell out of the tree.

"Iie! Pidgeot!" Ash said as he toppled over. Fortunately, Pidgeot heard his call and the wings appeared on his back again.

"Thanks, Pidgeot." Ash said gratefully.

He could have sworn he heard Pidgeot's laughter in the back of his head. Try not to fall out of trees, Ash! 

Ash sighed as he landed safely on the ground. Pika-chan, where are you? He asked as he began searching for her.

Teresa found herself lying in a very comfortable room. The floor was plush red velvet, and there were several very comfortable looking sofas around. At one end of the room was a black grand piano, and a glass cabinet filled with tiny pokemon statues and other interesting bits and pieces. There were several lamps too, so Teresa climbed up and switched the nearest one on.

"I wonder where I am?"

There was no response. Teresa shrugged, pocketed her camera, and went to explore. "I wonder where Ash and Pika-chan went?"

Pikachu finally found a person sleeping. "Oh well, guess they'll have to help me find him." She immediately jumped on the bed and shocked them.

"Stop that Vulpix-chan!" Charlotte said as she bolted awake. When she saw Pika-chan instead of Vulpix-chan, she blinked.

"What are _you _doing here?"

"I don't know! Ash touched this pillar in the Pokemon Tower, and the next thing I know, I'm stuck in a bathtub! And I suppose that I've somehow wound up in your dimension."

"I see…" Charlotte rubbed her chin. "Okay, I'll help you look for Ash!"

"Thanks!" Pika-chan said. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"Well, this is a pretty big house, but I can use my magic. Key that hides the power of sunlight, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Charlotte commandeth you, Release!" Charlotte's own staff formed. She pulled out a pokemon card. "Arcanine, sniff him out!"

Arcanine appeared, looking majestic. It sniffed and then went in the direction of the yard. Charlotte and Pika-chan shrugged and followed it. Vulpix-chan was still fast asleep.

On the way out though, Arcanine abruptly stopped and dashed off in a completely different direction. Charlotte sweatdropped. "Arcanine…"

However, they did find Teresa, so it wasn't a total loss.

"Arcanine, are you _sure_ you know where he is?"

Arcanine looked offended. "Never mind." Charlotte said quickly. After a while, they located Ash in the ballroom.

"Uh- hi! I'm sorry for barging into your house like this, your probably think I'm a burglar, but hear me out!" Ash said, as soon as he saw Charlotte enter the room.

Charlotte laughed. "Don't worry, Ash." She said. "Welcome to Cosmos Island."

Ash blinked, before his mind registered who she was. "Oh, hi!"

"Here, let me show you to a room. We can discuss this in the morning." Charlotte said, leading Ash off to a guest room. Pika-chan was very happy when she discovered that there was a tiny refrigerator filled with candy and cookies.

"Dig in!" Charlotte said cheerfully before she left.

Ash and Pika-chan shrugged, looked at each other, and both dove into the fridge. Soon, they got tired, so they climbed into the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning…

"So, where am I?" Ash asked as he dug into his stack of pancakes, dripping with syrup and butter. 

Charlotte rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Assuming that I'm not hallucinating, you're on Cosmos Island, this dimension's version of Indigo Island. There are eight gyms here, and you need eight badges to compete in the Cosmos league. I don't know how you got here, but Vulpix-chan, Angel, and I will try to return you to your original dimension."

Ash thanked Charlotte as he looked at her pokemon guardians. Weird, they were both pokemon. Angel was a white cat with white angel wings and a gold halo over its head, plus a gold-tipped tail. Vulpix-chan was just a Vulpix with little angel wings.

"Do you know how?"

"No." Charlotte said. "I can't use my magic to send you back, because then you would be boomeranged back here once the card wore off. Do you have Serebii, by any chance?"

"The Serebii card is in the Johto set. Ash has the Kanto set. He doesn't have Johto yet." Pika-chan said. "So we cannot use that option."

"Perhaps he could use Alakazam to teleport back?" Vulpix-chan suggested.

"I'm not sure that will work either. Plus, Alakazam is a really high-power card. I'm not sure Ash has enough energy to change another card yet." Sabrina spoke up.

"What can we do?" Ash asked frantically. "I have to get home!"

"Sooner or later this has to wear off." Charlotte said. "Hmm… why don't we wait a week, before we attempt anything, because dimensions usually start to repair the tear after ten days, so if this is a normal occurrence, you ought to be flung back into your dimension without any problems."

"Good idea. But what do I do until then?" Ash wanted to know.

"Well, we do have a league here. I believe you were trying to get badges?"

"Oh, okay! So where's the nearest gym?"

Charlotte produced a map, which she uploaded to his pokédex. "The nearest city is Sapphire city, that's where the Mercury gym is. The gym leader uses Ice-type pokemon."

Ash's eyes lit up. * Wow! I've never fought an ice-type gym leader before! *

"And I'm going with you." Charlotte said.

"Why?"

"Because I know the area better, since I live here." Charlotte stated. "Besides, just in case you get in trouble, I'll help you."

"Fine." Ash sighed. "So, how are we getting to Mercury city?"

"That's easy, we fly. Pidgeot, I choose you!" Charlotte said. The flying-type popped out of its poke ball and preened. Her eyes sparkled brightly.

"Okay, climb on Ash." Charlotte. After they were both mounted, plus the two small guardians (the other two went in their poke balls), they took off for Sapphire city.

End Episode 44! Sorry, but I had to throw Ash into another universe for a couple of reasons. First, if I went by canon CCS, he would only have 52 cards to change, and there's way more than 52 pokemon cards. Secondly, I can have more fun with non-canonical changes, and thirdly, I like Charlotte! 

C&C appreciated, flames will be used to destroy a certain reviewer who's been sending me flames… or they will be used to forge Shield, which will seal Nelvana up indefinitely, never letting them out…

Poll: If Ash got a Kanto Eevelution, which one should it be? Flareon, Vaporeon, or another Jolteon?

Poll: What color does everyone think Lance's hair is? Or what color should it be?


	5. arrival in sapphire city, mercury badge ...

Episode 45! 

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Shadow owns Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan, Angel, etc.

Note: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and _italics_ indicates poke speech.

Note: Charlotte is exactly 17 years old

Ranma – Heh, you're right. So you want Flareon? Yay! Fire! *Calms down* Dark Espeon would be cool, Light Umbreon might be kind of hard, but I can try… eevelutions rule! Auburn like Sakura's on CCS? *Thinks* Bizarre. But it would be cool if it really were that color!  
Rowena Ravenclaw – Yay! Another Nelvana hater! Well, another vote for Lance w/reddish brown hair. Vaporeon, hmm…

Dark Ramza – Jolteon is a good pokemon… double kick to cover weakness to rock…

Tmp – Right! Well, I put that in because someone flamed me for Charlotte being a Mary Sue before… *Scowls* Flareon or vaporeon… Actually, Skymew is a water/flying type, but he can't exactly use it much… so Vaporeon would be good…Lance's hair is Red? Close… and Ash will stay in Cosmos for a while, explanations will be up later!

SnowTiger – Black? Well, Lance's hair is black in Ace Sanchez's fic Pokemon Master… Flareon, eh?

Silver #2: Another vote for black hair? No…

Trutenor – Ash will return home… not telling! 

Articuno Trainer Ben – Oh! Thank you! Yes, I saw that Episode. Another vote for reddish-brown? Maybe I'm colorblind… Another vote for Flareon!

Satoshi – Red? *Thinks hard*

Matthais-8888 – Okay! Third vote for Vaporeon! Cool hair color, red-orange w/ gold or silver swirls… Sorry for the 'filler' scenes… but I just kind of try to follow the TV way, and there are a lot of fillers there.

Eevee99 – Another vote for Vaporeon! Brown hair? Close!

The Pokemon Reader – Yet another vote for Vaporeon! I guess I know who's going to win. Yes! You're the first one who said that Lance's hair is pink! Actually, I think they should have made it the same red his outfit was… so you want Teresa to stay? Sorry, but it's a plot thing, you'll see!

Shadow watched the Episode 'Talk about an evolution' _Seven times_, and I am convinced that Lance's hair is pink. A dark pink, but pink nonetheless! Contrast his hair color with the red and black of his outfit and you'll see what I mean… of course, he's not going to have pink hair in my fic! *Sobs* Pink! It's a darker shade of pink than Whitney's hair.  How could they do this to the Champion of the Elite Four?!

Actually, in the sunset scene at the end of 'Rage of Innocence, which I watched today, it looks kind of red-orange. But still! *Scowls*

Episode 45: Arrival in Sapphire city, Mercury badge coming up!

            They landed a bare half hour later. Ash now knew why they called it Mercury city. EVERYTHING was blue and silver. Everything. Even the gym was its own shade of icy blue. Ash's eyes blurred and he felt dizzy.

            "Are you okay?" Charlotte asked as they dismounted.

            "Everything's so… blue!" Ash said, in disbelief. "How is this possible?"

            "The gym leader is very fond of that color." Charlotte said dryly. "She's also pretty hard to beat."

            "Really?" Ash didn't look convinced.

            "Yep. But maybe you're a better trainer than I am, so I wouldn't know." Charlotte said. "I'll show you in."

            Ash followed her towards the gym.

            "So, what do you think?" Vulpix-chan asked as she showed Pika-chan her favorite ice-cream parlor.

            Pika-chan's eyes lit up. "Ice cream!"

            "Do you like ice cream?"

            "Are you crazy? I love ice cream!" Pika-chan reassured Vulpix-chan. "I don't know what I would do without sweets!"

            "Wai! I'm not the only sugar-happy one!" Vulpix-chan said.

            The ice cream storeowner groaned when he saw Vulpix-chan. "Not again! Why does your master send you here to bug me every week?"

            Vulpix-chan shrugged and placed a fifty-dollar bill on the counter and produced a list. The man groaned and began scooping ice cream. Pika-chan watched, interested.

            You come here every week? 

            Almost every week. We run out of ice cream really fast. 

            Ah. 

            "Okay, I'll just watch." Charlotte said, as she pulled out her dark blue pokédex. "I've already got this badge." 

            Ash walked into the gym and onto the challenger's platform. "I challenge you for a badge!" He called.

            A girl walked out. She had short blue hair in a ponytail, wire-rimmed glasses, and was wearing an ice-blue bodysuit.

            "Okay! I'm the Mercury gym leader Amy, and I accept your challenge!" She said. 

            "But we need a referee."

            "I'll ref." Charlotte said.

            Amy blanched. "What are _you_ doing here?"

            "I came as moral support for my little cousin Ash!" Charlotte said. Ash blinked, but decided to ask about it later.

            Amy sighed. "Fine." *Grr… she's probably going to help him… I remember when she creamed me with her fire and electric pokemon… *

            "All right, so do you want a 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 battle?" Amy asked.

            "3x3!" Ash said.

            "WAIT!" Teresa shouted. Ash blinked in confusion. "What?"

            "You forgot to wear your costume!" Teresa said as she dragged Ash off towards the bathrooms.

            Charlotte slowly blinked. *_Okay_… *

            Ash emerged a few minutes later. He had an ice-blue silk jacket, and dark blue ski pants. His snow boots were white, but he still had his dark blue fingerless gloves. On his head was a little ice-blue hat trimmed with white fur that had a little dark blue pom-pom on the end.

            "Very wintry." Charlotte remarked. Teresa perched herself on the bleachers and began videotaping.

            "Challenger chooses first pokemon." She said, as she picked up two flags.

            "I choose Ponyta!" Ash said. His fire-type materialized in a roar of flame and stamped proudly.

            _Wow! Where are we? I haven't seen this place before?_

            We're in another dimension, Ponyta. I'll explain later. Ash replied.

            Ponyta nodded.

            "Amy chooses Lapras!"

            Ash flinched. * This does not look good for Ponyta. What am I going to do? *

            "Lapras, use Surf!" Amy said confidently.

            "Ponyta, use Fire Spin to evaporate the water!"

            Ponyta's fire spin canceled out Lapras's surf attack. Ash sighed in relief. * Good, Ponyta is faster, so it will attack first. * 

            "Let's make this quick! Use another Fire Spin to contain Lapras, then use Rage Tackle!"

            Ponyta snickered a little bit and did as she was told. As soon as lapras was contained, she charged over and Lapras was hit in the head by a charging horse. In any case, Lapras fainted from the pain.

            "Lapras, Return." Amy said sadly. * I was hoping this would be easy! Grr… *

            "First round goes to Ash!" Charlotte said, holding up a green flag.

            "Amy chooses Jynx! Lovely Kiss that Ponyta out of action!" Amy shouted.

            Jynx waddled over to Ponyta and planted a kiss on its muzzle, before following up with Ice Punch. Ponyta shrieked as it was frozen.

            "Ponyta, return!" Ash said. Don't worry, girl. He focused fire energy into its poke ball, and Ponyta was defrosted, but too weak to re-enter battle, without Ash using the Wand or taking it to a center.

            "Ponyta is unable to battle." Charlotte said. She held up the red flag.

            Ash thought fast. * I can't use Storm, she's weak to ice. The same goes for Pidgey and Oddish. I'm not sure about Butterfree, so that leaves… Skymew or Sunny. *

            "Sunny, I choose you!"

            Finally! Sunny said. She shook herself and prepared to battle.

            "Jynx, Blizzard!"

            "Sunny, Quick attack!" Sunny dashed past the attack and rammed Jynx. Then, she decided to take the chance and used Flaming Thunder.

            A wave of fire mixed with bits of electricity engulfed Jynx. When the smoke cleared, Jynx was still standing.

            "No way! What level is that on?" Ash asked in shock.

            Teresa shrugged and continued to tape.

            "Jynx, Lovely Kiss again!"

            "Sunny Pin Missle!" Sunny waited until Jynx was very close, before firing off a Pin Missle attack. The pins all got stuck in Jynx's hair. Jynx immediately freaked out and pulled out a mirror.

            Ash blinked. * Okay… it's worried about its hair in the middle of a battle? *

            Sunny shrugged and used Thunderbolt. Jynx fell over, cross-eyed.

            "Jynx is unable to battle! Second round goes to Ash!" Charlotte said. The scoreboard lit up, showing that Amy had 2 pokemon down and Ash had 1.

            "I choose Swinub!" Amy shouted. "Use Earthquake!"

            Sunny was tossed into the air, hard. What is that? I've never seen that pokemon before? 

            I don't know either! Ash said.

            What do we do? Sunny asked as she struggled to stand.

            "Sunny, Return." Ash said. * So this has to be ice/ground, right? Since this is an ice gym and it knows earthquake. I'll have to take a chance. *

            "Oddish, go! Use Razor Leaf!" Oddish immediately began shooting the razor leaves at the Swinub, which squeaked and fell over.

            "Swinub, Powder Snow!" Amy said. "If you freeze Oddish, we can win!"

            "Oddish, douse it with Sleep Powder!" Ash commanded. Oddish nodded as the powder drifted over the arena and settled on the Swinub, which began to snore.

            "Argh! Swinub, return!" Amy said angrily. "Fine, you win. Here's your badge." She handed him a round, light blue pin with the symbol of mercury on it.

            Ash grinned and posed for Teresa.

            "Great job, Ash!" Charlotte said. "You're a really good trainer!"

            "Thanks!" Ash said, as he pinned his newest badge onto his jacket. He finished with an ending pose, before Teresa shut down her camera.

            "Say, where did Pika-chan go?"

            "Vulpix-chan probably took her to the ice-cream parlor." Charlotte said. "I know! I'll buy you an ice cream!"

            "Why?"

            "Because you beat Amy! We've been rivals for a long time… and it was a good way to humiliate her."

            Ash's eyebrow twitched, but he accepted her offer.

            Charlotte bought Ash a vanilla-chocolate-strawberry-mint chip-double fudge- cookies n' cream-cherry cheesecake- mocha ice-cream cone. She bought Teresa a mint chip, and she got a strawberry one herself.

            "Why me?" The ice cream man moaned. * That girl comes every week and buys like twenty gallons of ice cream! And I have to scoop it all out! *

            "Are you ready to go now, Pika-chan?" Ash asked.

            Pika-chan nodded. I had six ice creams! 

            Ash's eyes widened a bit. "Well, I hope you work it all off."

            "So, where are we going next?" Teresa wanted to know.

            "Next is Ruby City. But it's going to take a few days of hiking to get there."

            "No problem." Ash said. "But first… can I change?"

            Charlotte indicated the public restrooms. After Ash changed, they set out for Ruby City. Ash rode Ponyta, Charlotte rode Arcanine, and Teresa rode her Kangaskhan. 

            "So, Ash, how have things been?"

            "Well, I have to change all of my cards now."

            "Really? That's interesting." Charlotte said. She held out a stack. "Here are mine. I had to change them too."

            Ash picked one up. It was gold and red with a sun on top.

            "They're called Sunlight cards. Not that creative, but…"

            "Pika-chan wants to call mine Ash tree cards."  
            Charlotte laughed. "That's funny!"

            Ash scowled a bit, but sighed. "Wait, there's a pokemon called the Jump?"

            "Oh no, those are spirits I changed into cards." Charlotte explained. "When you become a card master, you can create cards, but you already know that. I'm just copying Clow's cards, just in case."

            "I see."

End Episode 45! C&CC please! Flames will be used to summon Byakko-seikun! 10 needed reviews for next chapter.

Poll: If Ash's primary magic type is 'Star', what should his second type be?

Thunder

Shadow

Wind/Flying

Earth

Psychic

Other (not fire or ice or dragon because I need those for other characters)


	6. never judge a dimension by its cover

Part 46! Shadow falls over and waves a white flag of surrender. Destiny nods in satisfacication.

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Shadow is too tired to fight the cooperations of the right to own pokemon. Shadow owns Skymew, Eterneon, Destiny...

Notes: Indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates poke spech which has been translated into english.

Timeline: 2 days later

Satoshi (the real one) – Hi! Thanks for reviewing my other fics. *Smile* Anyways, have fun! Teresa over Tracey? And Lance has orange-red hair? Well... Ash does have rainbow magic in some other fics, look around, but he won't in mine.

Mathias –8888 – I am sorry, but there are only a few ways to battle and i'm not that creative. I'm trying to use normal attacks, not too many special ones yet. 1 vote for psychic!

Ranma – Keep thinking, it's good! Anyways, thanks! The battle scenes are fun to write. I try not to make them all one hit Kos because that'd be boring.

SnowTiger – A conspiracy? *Blinks* Oh well. I'd be sick if I ate all that ice cream, but Ash is doing fine! I like Wind/Flying, one vote!  
Silver2 – I said one of the three base evolutions. Espeon... i'll think on it. Psychic? *Thinks*

Mistress of Richard Cox – Oh! You've been reading some of my other ficcies? 1 for Shadow!

Rowena Ravenclaw – Another wind/flying? 'Kay.

Tmp – good, because i'll probably use one of those 3. There are 9 gym badges in the  Cosmos League. Poor ice cream man. Ash will make new cards, but not often, because he still has to change the pokemon cards into Ash cards and it takes a _lot_ more energy.

Nikki Wind Crystal Wind – Ah. Thunder?

Eevee99 – another for thunder. *thinks* It will all make sense eventually.

Pikacar/Marle – Another agreeable one! I love Wind/flying and shadow, so... *Smiles*

Episode 46: Never judge a dimension by its cover

            "So, how much longer do we have to ride?" Teresa asked. She was perched on the back of her new Doduo, but she wasn't really comfortable riding it.

            "Probably another day." Charlotte said. She was riding an Arcanine. It looked annoyed. Probably the slow pace they were setting.

            "Well, I'm glad we left Sapphire City. Everything's too blue!"

            Charlotte laughed. "You're right about that. Every time I go there, it makes me dizzy."

            Ash leaned over and tossed Pika-chan a raisin cookie. "Here you go!" Pika-chan and Vulpix chan were walking behind the group and chatting.

            Pika-chan expertly caught the cookie. "Thanks, Ash!"

            "Here's one for Vulpix-chan too!" Ash said, flinging another cookie out.

            Teresa snapped a picture.

            Ash sweatdropped.

            Suddenly, Charlotte tensed. Her blue eyes darkened to an eerie amber-gold color.

            "What is it?" Teresa asked.

            "There's something or someone out there…" Charlotte said, as she reached for the key around her neck.

            "Could it be a pokemon card?"

            "Impossible. I already have the whole set." Charlotte said. She turned to Ash, who pulled out his own deck to check.

            "No, I have all of mine too…"  
            

            "What could it be?" Teresa wanted to know.

            "Maybe it is an evil spirit. They're pretty common in this dimension." Charlotte said. She extracted what looked like a golden stick with three rings on top. In one ring was a red jewel, in another was a blue jewel, and the one in the center was bright yellow. 

            "What's that?"

            "This is known as the Triple Devastation Wand. It's used to seek out, seal, or destroy evil spirits." Charlotte said calmly. "It was forged from the power of the three guardians. Fire, ice, and lightning, lifetimes ago."

            Ash was suddenly very glad that he did _not_ live here.

            "Bright flame to call the phoenix." Charlotte chanted as the first jewel began to glow. A red light immediately surrounded a misshapen black blocky form as it tumbled out of a tree.

            "Holy water to cleanse the presence." Charlotte intoned as the second jewel glowed pale blue. Water cascaded over the figure, which began to shriek in a truly horrific tone.

            "Heaven's Fury to destroy this abomination and purify this earth!" As the last line rang out, jagged lightning bolts crashed into the demon without mercy. It barely had time to give its death-cry before it was vaporized. Charlotte dusted off her hands.

            "W-what was that? A Demon?" Teresa asked, putting down her camera.

            "Yes. That's why I used the first jewel. It cannot be fooled by illusions or disguises, and it seeks out the demons with unerring skill."

            "So you didn't just hurt an innocent bystander?" Ash asked.

            Charlotte laughed lightly. "Oh no. I checked to make sure it was a demon. This type is known as a Shadowbane. Quite common and not that strong, but if there's a lot of them they wear your magic down, little by little."

            "And then they eat you." Vulpix-chan said impishly.

            "WHAT?!"

            "You heard me." Vulpix-chan said as her tails wagged. "They eat you."  
  


            "Now Vulpix-chan, that's not the proper way to say it." Charlotte said. "They don't eat you, they just drain all of your magic energy away. By the time they're finished, you probably _wish_ you were dead."

            Ash silently thanked Honou that he did not have to live in such a place.

            "Shall we continue?" Charlotte asked as if nothing had happened.

            Ash nodded silently.

            "So, trying to escape by crossing time and space?" A voice asked.

            "I thought it was smart of him."

            "That just means more work when he returns to his proper dimension."

            "I guess you could put it that way… but he was sent into her dimension. Does that mean anything?"

            "Perhaps…"

            "Quit being so mysterious! Tell me!"

            "Why?"

            Later…

            "What's that?"

            Charlotte looked in the direction Ash was pointing. "Oh, that's an Eterneon. Light-type evolution of Eevee that's pretty hard to find." The aforementioned pokemon was pure white, with a pair of white wings. Its ruff was a mass of pale blue fur, and on its forehead was a golden sun.

            "Do you have one already?"

            "Yes. You want to catch it?"

            "Sure, why not?" Ash asked. He pulled out a poke ball. "Butterfree, I choose you!" Butterfree popped out and began hovering in front of the Eterneon.

            "Butterfree, use Stun Spore!" Butterfree nodded, and spores drifted down from his antennae. The light-type eevee froze.

            "Now use Tackle!" Butterfree rammed into the Eterneon. The Eterneon's eyes lit up and a white beam shot at Butterfree, which faltered.

            "Shoot! Try using Sleep Powder!" This time, the Eterneon fell asleep.

            Charlotte clapped. "Good job. Eterneon's light beam attack usually takes out its opponent. Be careful, though. These don't like to fight very much."

            Ash tossed a poke ball and caught the new pokemon. Then, he posed.

            "Great job!" Pika-chan said.

            "Thanks, Pika-chan." Ash said. Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan were chatting together like old friends, which they were.

            Teresa put down her video camera. "Darn, I forgot to have you wear a costume!"

            Ash sweatdropped. "Teresa…"  
            "Don't worry! Next time, I'll make sure you have one!" Teresa promised.

            Ash sighed. "That's not what I meant…" He muttered.

            Charlotte yawned and pulled out a mirror. She began doing her hair. "We might as well take a break while we have time."

            Ash blinked, but pulled out a book on spells and began to peruse it. Teresa pulled out a needlework kit and began embroidering flowers on a new costume.

            "Cookies, anyone?" Pika-chan asked, holding out a box.

            "Pika-chan, are those my strawberry-chocolate swirl cookies?" Ash asked in a menacing tone.

            "Well…" Pika-chan looked a bit sheepish.          

            "Pika-chan!"

            "But I'm hungry! And eating food replenishes magic energy to a certain extent! It's good for you!"

            "Besides, we like eating!" Vulpix-chan chimed in, pulling a box of white chocolate ice cream bars out of midair.

            "Vulpix-chan, would that be the ice cream I was saving for a rainy day?"

            "Er…"  
            Charlotte sighed. "Oh well, we might as well eat them now."

            "YAY!"

            The two guardians immediately began pigging out. Teresa took a few pictures of them eating, before she returned to her embroidery.

            "This is going to look so pretty…"  
            Ash cringed when he heard that statement. * Uh-oh… * 

            "I wonder… how much longer will it take to get to Topaz City? Can't we just fly there?"

            "If we'd done that, you wouldn't have caught Eterneon." Charlotte pointed out.

            "Oh yeah!"

            Ash then remembered something else. He released Eterneon, who promptly fell asleep, and used the SCAN function on the AIPL to catalogue her.

            "Nice." Teresa said. Ash blinked but she wasn't talking to him. He shrugged and returned to his work.

            Charlotte took a nap.

            Teresa continued to work on Ash's costumes.

            Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan ate.

            Time passed. 

            Night fell and they all went to bed.

            Sometime in the middle of the night…

            Ash was rudely awakened by Teresa's shouts.

            "Look! Look!"

            Ash sighed and looked up at the sky. "Oh! It's a shooting star!"  
            Teresa nodded enthusiastically.

            Ash closed his eyes. * I might as well make a wish. I wish I go home soon… *

            There was a tiny sparkle of silver light. Ash smiled. He could feel the energy from the stars, washing over him. 

            _Thank you._

            _No problem. Everyone needs hope once in a while._

End Episode 46! So, what do you think? Quick, submit a review! Plotbunnies are dying faster than goldfish in the middle of the Sahara desert!


	7. the gaining of the bright morning star b...

Episode 47!

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Did shadow ever say she owned pokemon?

Notes: indicates telepathy, italics indicates poke speech, ** indicates thoughts, and () indicates authoress's notes.

Timeline: A few days after Episode 46

Ranma – Thank you!  
Tmp – okay, at the end, Ash was talking to the stars. You spelled Syaoran correctly. Yes, Eriol was the person talking. Um… they have magic and that's how the ice cream stays frozen. I'm not telling how Teresa got a Doduo. Honou = Ho-oh. No, Eterneon is _not_ the pokemon Ash is getting out of the 3 types debate. Not telling what Ash gets yet, wait a couple of episodes!

Pikacar/Marle: Eterneon is cute! *Smile*

Silver2: Wow! Anyways, there is no writer's block yet, thank you!

Nikki and Crystal Wind: Why'd you change your name? Anyways, no, I don't have a pic of Eterneon but I could draw one…

SnowTiger – YAY! *Cheers*

Eevee99 – um, sorry, but no, I don't really like the relatives game much… unless Charlotte's going to be related to Ash…

Satoshi – Ice and Fire are both taken, Fire is Charlotte's, and Ice is Lance's… wait! That might be a plot thing! Forget I said anything! Yep, the star _was_ talking to Ash! DIE NELVANA! *Cackles*  'Thoughts of a pokemon' is followed by 'More thoughts of a pokemon', Satoshi. I'll update that too.

Episode 47: The gaining of the bright morning star badge

            "AAHHH! It's all yellow and orange!" Ash said, staring in disbelief at Topaz city. "No way!"

            "Didn't you know? All the cities here have a color theme." Charlotte said.

            "But I didn't think everything would be yellow/orange!" Ash said. "Besides, even the people are wearing nothing but yellow and orange!"

            "In that case, do you want a costume in that color so you'll blend in?" Teresa asked hopefully.

            "No!" Ash said emphatically. "No way!"

            Charlotte silently thanked lugia that there hadn't been a photographer along when she had captured her set.

            "How about this?" Teresa asked ten minutes later, in the pokemon center.

            Ash was afraid to look up, but he finally forced his eyelids open and glanced up at the costume Teresa was holding.

            There was a pair of black jeans, embroidered all over with orange poppies. The shirt was a dark yellow tank top. With this went an orange headband, and a pair of black elbow-length gloves. Also, he had black-and-orange sneakers.

            "Is this a Halloween special?"

            "No, that's still three weeks away." Teresa said. "It's orange, but not orange, so you won't stick out too much, but you won't look mundane either!"

            Ash sighed, but he went and changed into the costume.

            "So who's the Topaz city gym leader?" Teresa asked.

            Charlotte yawned. "Mina. She uses normal-type pokemon."

            "Oh?" Teresa blinked. "I know there's a gym in Johto like that. Whitney."

            "I wouldn't know."

            Ash emerged from the bathroom, dressed in his costume. "Okay, I'm ready!" He said.

            "Great! Let's go!" Charlotte said. "The gym is only one block away."

            "Could it be that huge building that's bright orange and heart-shaped?" Ash asked in a small voice.

            Teresa winced. Ash sounded smushed. But then, considering what the building looked like…

            "Yes."

            "Great." Ash muttered as they walked in. "I'm so glad the gyms at home aren't like this…"

            Teresa nodded in agreement. *Yikes! This building is terribly ugly. All the colors clash! Ugh. *

            When they walked in, junior trainers who were all dressed in identical frilly orange blouses and really short white skirts immediately swamped Ash. 

            "Ooh! A new challenger!"

            "Let me fight him, Kali!"

            "No, I want to, Jenny! You got the last one!"

            "Liar, that was Michelle!"

            Ash panicked. Charlotte sighed and pulled out a jar of noxious black liquid. She opened the jar and suddenly, a being of diaphanous smoke appeared.

            "AAHHH!" Shouted all the junior trainers as they ran away.

            Ash blinked. "What was that?"

            "Smoke demons. Pretty useful for driving away large numbers of people." Charlotte said, as she sucked the smoke demon back into its jar. "Okay, you should be able to go find Mina now."

            "Thanks!" Ash said. He and Teresa immediately ran into the gym. Charlotte yawned, pulled a pillow out of her backpack, and fell asleep against one of the benches.

            "Oh gym leader! Where are you?" Ash called.

            Mina nearly fell off her bright pink and orange plush sofa. "Are you a challenger?"

            "Yes! I challenge you for the Venus badge!" Ash said.

            Mina blinked as she looked at his costume and fangirl who was videotaping. "Okay…. Let's have a one on one pokemon battle!"

            "Sounds good to me!" Ash said. He reached for his poke belt. "I choose Eterneon!"

            "Normal to normal, eh?" Mina asked. "In that case, I'll use Snubble!" 

            The pink dog pokemon appeared and growled. Ash blinked. * Isn't Eterneon a light type? *

            "Eterneon, use Psychic!" Ash called. Eterneon nodded. Her eyes flashed gold as she shot a psychic at the dog pokemon.

            "Snubble, use Charm!" The Snubble batted its eyelashes at Eterneon, who immediately broke off her attack.

            "Darn! Snap out of it!" Ash said. "Use Light Beam!" The dazed Eterneon managed to focus on Ash's voice and fire off the attack.

            Snubble shook, but it still managed to stay upright.

            "Now finish it off with Light Ray!" A ray of white light shot from Eterneon's eyes, combining into a spiral of stars. The attack pounded into Snubble unmercifully.

            "I win." Ash said, as Snubble collapsed.

            Teresa smirked as the tape finished. "Woohoo! Got it all on film! Great one, Ash!"

            "I guess you win." Mina said. "Wow! Nobody's ever been able to beat me that quickly!"

            "Thanks!" Ash replied as he took the Venus badge from Mina. However, he was unprepared when she kissed him on the lips.

            "In that case I'll go out with you for sure!"

            "What?!" Was all Ash managed to say before he fainted.

            He was awoken by Pika-chan waving a giant paper fan in his face.

            "Oh! You're awake!"

            "Pika-chan, I just had the strangest dream…" Ash said as he yawned. "I dreamed that this girl I didn't even know glomped me."

            Mina cleared her throat. 

            "Ash… it wasn't a dream." Pika-chan said.

            Ash screamed and dashed out of the Venus gym. Teresa and Pika-chan ran after him. Charlotte was still sleeping against the wall. But soon, she awoke and joined the chase.

            "I don't even know you!" Ash shouted as he ran.

            "But you're so cute!" Mina protested as she chased him.

            "A good relationship is based on mutual consent!" Ash screamed as he dashed into a department store.

            Mina shrugged and followed in. "Come back here!"

            "Hey, quit hitting on him!" Charlotte said as she joined the fun.

            "Who asked you? You're so ugly only a toad would go out with you!"

            "What? Why you – Arcanine, I choose you!"

            "What an ugly pokemon! You ought to get cute ones like me, than boys will like you! Clefairy, go!"

            "Extreemespeed and then Fire Blast!" Charlotte shouted in annoyance. * Grr… who does she think she is? *

            Ash cautiously peered out. * Phew, I think its safe now. *

            Clefairy flew over char-boiled. Just then, Mina spotted Ash in one of the mirrors. "Come back here, you hunk!"

            "Eep!" Ash said as he continued to run.

            "Jigglypuff! Use Disable!" Mina sang out.

            Ash dived into a display. He hid there until Mina had gone.

            "Ash? Where are you?" Pika-chan asked.

            "She's gone!" Teresa added.

            Ash peered out. "Really? Thank Mew!"

            "Quick, let's try to get out of Topaz city while she's still sulking in her gym." Charlotte said.

            Ash nodded enthusiastically. He changed into a simple t-shirt and jeans, and they quickly raced for the city limits.

            Fortunately, Mina wasn't aware of this fact.

            They were much relieved when they finally got out, without even bothering to hit the center.

            "Next time, I'm going to make sure the girl doesn't like me." Ash said.

            "Yeah." Teresa said. * So I was kind of jealous… so what? *

            "What's next?"

            "Amber city is next." Vulpix-chan piped up. "Leader uses various types of earth pokemon. He's a guy, so you won't have to worry about glomping."  
            "Great! Let's go!"

            And so the group headed for the next town.

End episode 47! C&CC are great! Flames will be used to summon Suzaku-seikun, who will be so annoyed that he will devour you all! Mwahahaha! 

Poll: If shadow wrote a new story, should it be…

A.) A Destiny fic

B.) A story where Ash goes over to Team Rocket because he has no other choice

C.) An Ash meets Red story

D.) A story with Ash, Lance, Charlotte in it.

E.) A depressing pokemon POV fic

F.) Don't do anything, just update CCA

G.) Pick two


	8. the perils of being lost

Episode 48! Wow! I'm almost to fifty episodes! Yay! Shadow smiles happily and dances around, strewing flowers and tossing candy to the reviewers.

Shadow is really sick this week… headache, rash, turned out I was allergic to the medicine my doctor gave me, now I look like a Pikachu. My cheeks are all red and puffy…

Disclaimer: Okay, if you haven't noticed already, Shadow does not own pokemon. I mean, I've only written it about forty times…

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates poke speech… And yes, Ash actually changes a pokemon card in this episode! Yay!

Ash: So now I'm in another universe?  
Shadow: It's another dimension, Ash.

Pika-chan: Yay! I get to reunite with a friend!  
Ash: But I do get to go home, right? It's a one-week to two-weeks spell keeping me there…

Shadow: Well…

Ash: _I don't get to go home yet?_  
Shadow: Did I say that? *Winces as Ash begins to power up, but than realizes he can't turn into Destiny anymore*

Ash: _And why did I lose my powers? It's not fair!_

Shadow: Don't worry, since I know you're smart enough to figure out a solution to this! *Winks*

Pika-chan: ***Yawns and poofs in* I'm hungry.**

Shadow: * Tosses Pika-chan some candy*

Pika-chan: **Yay! *Smiles and eats marshmallows and caramel happily***

Ash: _*Sighs* I hope I get to go home soon…_  
Shadow: *Evil grin* I'm the authoress, I control all…

Ash: _But I'm your muse! If I don't give you inspiration… _

Shadow: *Shivers* Okay, okay! I hate writer's block! *Begins typing frantically as Ash threatens to disappear*

Ash: _*Looks satisfied and waves to audience*_

Pika-chan: ***Winks and tosses candy to select reviewers. Audience cheers* Have fun reading this, people!**

SnowTiger – Amber city is actually Ok, according to Ash. I know; my parents force me to bed too. Hmm… just continue CCA? All right! That's easy!

Ranma – Yes, poor Ash! Okay, then I won't post option C until after I finish Dragon's Love! *Smile* Teresa's crush is not a good thing…

Pikacar/Marle – B? Evil Ash, eh? Okay! Teresa/Ash is not going to be requited. 

Rowena Ravenclaw – More Destiny fics! *Grin* Okay! *Smiles*

Mathais–8888 – Wait. You _still_ think the battle was boring? *Sniffles* I'm trying! But pokemon battles can't be that interesting. A and F? Destiny + Updates, eh?

Silver2 – B and F = Evil Ash + Updates. Looks like people want me to update…

Tmp – I'm the author. But who cares if Teresa loves Ash if he doesn't love her back? This is going to be championshippy, remember? You're right, there is no earth badge. Snubbulls annoy me to no end… Well, no Evil Ash, and no D… Wai! You voted for the depressing pokemon fic?

Eevee99 – Well, someone likes Charlotte… I'm glad… Thank you! 

Satoshi – What do you mean Eriol was the star? Yes, Ash was talking to a star. But it was not Eriol. Eriol was the weird spooky voice talking to somebody. I'll try your idea, but… Destiny is kind of evil, and without Ash it's not going to be a cute story…

Episode 48: The perils of being lost

            "Where are we?" Ash asked as he frantically looked at the map.

            Charlotte shrugged. "I'm not sure…"

            "Don't you live here?" Teresa asked in astonishment. "How can you be lost?"

            "Well, if I remember correctly, you were the one who wanted to take pictures of the Clefairy colony in these mountains. And to do so, we had to leave the trail, remember?" Charlotte returned, feeling slightly snappy.

            Teresa sighed. At least she had gotten some good Clefairy pictures. But still! It had been three days since they had deviated from their travel plan, and now they were pretty lost.

            "Can't we do anything?" Ash asked.

            "Not unless you know a direction chant." Charlotte said as she peered at her pokégear.

            "Hmm… it's worth a try." Pika-chan said. "After all, it can't hurt, right?"

            Vulpix-chan nodded in agreement and yawned.

            "Magic to cards, cards to key! Send us where we want to be!" Ash said. The star in the middle of his key glowed and a white beam shot out, pointing off through a forest of underbrush.

            "Great! We might actually get out of here now!" Vulpix-chan said, now feeling more charitably inclined towards Ash. "Let's go!"

            She and Pika-chan bounded off into the underbrush. The two card masters to be shrugged and followed.

            A few minutes later…

            "Prepare for trouble!"

            "And make it double!"

            "To protect the world from devastation!"

            "To unite all peoples within our nation!"

            "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jasmine!"

"Jamie!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Sneasal, that's right!"

Ash blinked as two Team Rocket agents dressed in white uniforms with blue 'R's on their uniforms jumped out of the trees in front of them.

"Hand over your pokemon now!"

"I didn't know there was TR here too." Ash whispered to Pika-chan, who shrugged helplessly.

"Well?" Jamie asked as he picked up a rose. "Give us your pokemon or we'll have to take it from you by force!"

"What he said!" Jasmine said as she tossed her purple wavy hair.

"Oddish, I choose you!" Ash said.

"Arcanine, I choose you!" Charlotte said, throwing out her own pokemon.

"Raticate, go!" Jamie said. Jasmine shrugged and threw out her own pokemon, Poliwhirl.

"Poliwhirl, Water gun!" "Raticate, Super Fang!"  
            "Arcanine, Extremespeed!" Charlotte said. "Target the Raticate!"

"Right! Oddish, use Petal Dance on the Poliwhirl!" 

Energy blasts flew everywhere as the pokemon battled. Teresa wisely retreated to the side and continued to tape.

It seemed like everything was under control, but then one of Poliwhirl's water blasts went wide and hit Charlotte and Ash. Ash simply blinked and shook himself, but Charlotte suddenly shrieked and curled up in a fetal position.

"Oh no!" Vulpix-chan said.

"What's wrong?"

"My Chosen is insanely hydrophobic. Uncontrollable fear of water." Vulpix-chan said as she jumped down to try help her shivering Chosen.

Ash sighed. "I guess its up to me, then." He said, seeing that Arcanine had spun around at its master's distress and had been knocked out.

"Ponyta, I choose you! Use Flamethrower!" Ponyta nodded and toasted the Raticate, but was taken down when Jamie fired a tranquilizer dart into its rump. Oddish was easily dispatched in the same manner, as were Teresa, Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan and Charlotte. Ash barely had time to blink before a dart lodged itself in his arm.

"Great." Was all Ash had time to say before he fell asleep. The Rockets laughed and stripped the two battling trainers of their poke balls. The boss was going to like these…

They didn't bother to take Teresa's.

**********************Dreamscape*************************************

            "Why?" Ash asked nobody in particular as he had the dream again.

            This time, however, the figure did not look like it was attacking him.

            "Team Rocket has captured the guardians. You must get them back."

            "Um… thank you." Ash said. "But who are you?"

            The figure smiled. "I cannot tell you that. You may not appreciate my advice in the future though."

            Ash blinked in confusion. "Wha?"

            The area filled with silvery-blue light, as the figure began to vanish.

            "Wait!" Ash said, but it was too late.

            "Remember, little guardian, be on your guard. The enemy is ever encroaching on the borders of the universe…"  
            Then there was a bright flash and the figure was gone.

            "Forget me. We will be enemies in the future…" The words hung in the air after the figure had vanished.

*********************End Dreamscape*************************************

Three hours later…

Ash awoke when a Geodude landed on top of his leg. The pain had been more than sufficient to awaken even a sound sleeper. "Oh no!" He said when he saw that all his poke balls were gone.

Ash quickly shook Teresa awoke, and used a spell to launch a volley of bubbles at Charlotte, which woke her up easily.

"What do we do?" Teresa asked.

"What do you think? We go get our pokemon back." Ash said. 

"That's all very well for you, but what can I do?" Teresa asked as Ash and Charlotte pulled out their respective keys.

"Pray." Ash said. 'Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!" 

His key grew into a wand and he gripped it tightly. "Let's go."  
            "Ash, do you know where the HQ is?" Charlotte asked as she pulled out her own staff with a quick muttered incantation.

"Um, no…"  
            Charlotte sweatdropped. "Okay, why don't you use that magical chant you used earlier to find the road to hone in on the guardians?"

"Right!" Ash said as he brandished his staff. "Magic to cards, cards to key!" A white beam shot out of the staff and in the direction of Topaz City.

"Guess we'll be backtracking." Teresa muttered. 

"Sorry, Teresa, but you'll have to stay here. It's not safe." Ash said. Teresa narrowed her eyes angrily. "What?!"

 "Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release!" The wings on Ash's staff grew bigger and touched the card he had thrown out, which changed to white almost immediately.

"Kadabra! Teleport!" Ash said. They vanished in a flash of blue light.

Teresa scowled and sat down to wait. 

End Episode 48! What did you think? C&CC very welcome! Flames will be donated to Moltres, Hehehehe. And then she'll toast all of you that didn't review! *Smirk*


	9. infiltrating the rocket base

Episode 49! Ooh! Almost at fifty! Yay! 

Disclaimer: If you think Shadow owns pokemon, great. That way I am safe from being sued. If you know I don't own pokemon, then you must be crazy to sue me, because all I have is an AP Biology textbook, five dollars, and Destiny + Pika-chan + Charlotte. Oh, and Skymew plus the Cosmos League badges/gyms/cities/characters.

Note: As always, ** indicates thoughts, indicates telepathy, and _italics_ indicates 

Pokemon speech! 

Inami – Thank you! Well, actually, writing CCA isn't as hard as Evolutionary problems (scowls). If you haven't read the original CCA, I just uploaded it, so in case anyone wants to read it…

Ranma – Gracias! Here we go! Actually, I wasn't even thinking about who led TR… 

Rowena Ravenclaw – Hi! *Forces Moltres away* that's so cool! I wanted to be called Charlotte… Anyways, Evil Ash/Destiny and Ash meets Red are both good. *Smile* I will update, never fear!  
Eevee99 – Vulpix-chan will have a larger role, so don't worry! We're just waiting for something to happen… Hehehe…

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind: Hi! No, it's not Darien at Amber City… *Throttles Darien* since I hate him. And fortunately, Ash will probably be able to evade Mina. *Grabs Mina and tosses her out of authorspace*

SnowTiger – You guessed right! Who else would it be?

Tmp – did I say it was Eriol? Oh well. I had fun creating Jaime and Jasmine, and I like dark pokemon. Charlotte is afraid of water, since her magic is 'sun'.

Silver2 – I will! I am updating as fast as I can!

Mathias – 8888 – Well, thanks for reading the old CCA. I probably should up the rating.

Severus' Potion Mistress – Wow! Thanks for your support!

Fire Eevee – Satoshi, I know it's you. Well, it's not Eriol, but someone else who is partially playing Eriol's role. Team Rocket was a bit smarter, yes. Why not? It's more challenging that way.

Episode 49: Infiltrating the Rocket base

            "This is all very good, but how do we get in?" Charlotte asked, as they appeared a hundred yards away from the Team Rocket Headquarters, located under an innocent-looking bright yellow skyscraper in Venus City.

            "Um, I don't know." Ash said. "I guess we wait for an opportunity."

            As if on cue, a team of rockets in gray uniforms walked in front of the building. Ash looked at Charlotte.

            "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

            "Yep. Mew, use Disable." The pokemon card floated in front of the two shocked rockets and paralyzed them before they had a chance to say anything. Then, the rockets were tied up with strips of cloth and buried a few feet underground.

            "Let's go." Charlotte said as she dragged the female rocket member into the bush and took her uniform.

            "This doesn't fit very well…"Ash said as he tucked his pant legs into the boots. "They're too long."  
            "Nobody's going to notice." Charlotte said. "Besides, mine doesn't fit either… how can they fight in this?"

            Ash shrugged. They also took the ID cards from the two rockets and walked boldly in through the double doors.

            "Password?" The bored-looking grey-haired woman in a white flowered dress at the front desk asked. She was too busy looking into her cup of coffee to look them in the eyes or anything like that.

            "Raticate Tail." Ash said. The lady waved them through, not even bothering to glance at their ID cards.

            "How'd you know?" Charlotte whispered as they walked down the hallway.

            "The rocket had it written on a piece of paper in his pocket." Ash whispered back, trying to stifle a laugh.

            After a few hours of wandering, it was evident that this was not a very efficient way to gather information about their stolen pokemon.

            "What do we do?"

            "I don't' know." Ash answered. Just then, they passed by a set of double doors that had 'Biochemical Lab – do not enter' on it.

            From inside came screams. Ash pricked up his ears as he recognized one of the voices. "That's Pika-chan!"

            "Bingo. There's our target." Charlotte said. By unspoken agreement, both summoned forth their respective weapons and prepared to break in.

            "Moltres-." Ash was about to call out the titan of fire when Charlotte shook her head. "Too obvious. We need something quiet. Like acid to melt through the doors or something like that…"  
            "Acid, huh? Okay, then I choose – Arbok!" Ash said. The poison snake underwent the necessary transformation into what is known as an 'Ash card' and reared up, prepared to ram the doors down.

            "No, Arbok. I want you to use Acid and melt through them."

            Arbok shrugged and sprayed a mouthful of caustic substance at the door. Slowly, wisps of smoke rose from the door, and soon, a small opening appeared. A second dose of Acid was added and soon, the door was gone.

            The scientists in the lab must have been too occupied with trying to attach electrical impulse wires to Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan, without any success, I might add, to notice that the door had mysteriously vanished. In any case, the element of surprise is always useful in a battle, so the two decided to use it to their advantage.

"Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release." Ash whispered as he tossed two cards into the air. "Horsea, use Smokescreen. Muk, use Toxic." Muk nodded and the air filled with toxic fumes while Horsea covered the area with black smoke.

"Jolteon, Pin Missle!" Charlotte said, releasing her own pokemon cards. "Oh yeah, and lace the needles with paralysis powder, please?" Jolteon nodded. One by one, the scientists went down. But for some obscure reason, the alarm didn't sound at all.

Of course, it might have been because Pika-chan was chewing through all the wires and Vulpix-chan was snapping them in half with her claws.

After a few minutes, Ash and Charlotte had located and reclaimed their pokemon and guardians. 

"I think we should leave now."  
            "Me too." Charlotte said. "I wouldn't want to overstay our welcome."

They both grabbed onto Skymew, and she teleported them out and into a forest clearing pretty far away.

Teresa was waiting with Angel.

"I can't believe you did that!" She said, snapping pictures of them in their Team Rocket uniforms.

Angel yawned and licked his paws. I'm glad you made it back safely. 

"But you couldn't have helped anyways." Ash stated.

Teresa frowned. "Oh yeah?"

"Drop it." Pika-chan said. Then, she hugged Ash. "I knew you'd rescue us!"

Vulpix-chan hugged Charlotte tightly and purred. Both card masters shrugged and petted their guardian absentmindedly, resulting in one of those 'twin' scenes.

"This is so cute…" Teresa gushed as she taped for about ten minutes. Then, she put away her camera.

"All right, let's get going!"

"Odd that she'd say that." Charlotte said as she mounted her Arcanine.

"Must be planning a new costume for me." Ash whispered back. * I'm doomed. Please don't let it be frilly, pink, or have sequins. *

And so, the travelers continued on their journey. Teresa scribbled costume designs furiously in a notebook as they traveled.

Ash played Solitaire on his pokédex and tried to ignore Pika-chan, who was eating his chocolate-covered raisins.

Charlotte kept a lookout for more demons and played snake on her pokédex.

Pika-chan ate happily.

Vulpix-chan took a nap.

And they continued on.

Teresa sighed. * Why am I jealous? I'm not jealous! This is so confusing! I mean, I think I like Ash. But then, I'm not sure… *

Her Kangaskhan kept walking.

"Chips, anyone?" Charlotte asked, holding out a bag of potato chips.

"Me!" Vulpix-chan said, racing over.

Angel quietly settled on Charlotte's head, not saying anything.

"I want chips too!" Pika-chan chirped as she flew over. "Ash, can I have some fruit juice?"

"How much do I have?" Ash asked as he opened his backpack.

"Still some left…"

"Please?" Pika-chan turned on the big puppy dog eyes and went all kawaii with shimmery shiawase bubbles around her.

"Okay." Ash sighed.

"Yay!" Pika-chan cheered. She and Vulpix-chan took the snacks. Then, they floated in the air and ate for a while.

Teresa was silent, which was unusual, but none of the other travelers noticed, being too preoccupied with other events.

End Episode 49! C&CC, review please! Flames will be used to weld Nakago's armor… Hehehehe…. Seiryu rules! 


	10. the return of destiny

Episode 50! The big five o! 

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo, Game FREAK, 4Kids, Shogakukan comics, etc. shadow owns Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan, Eterneon, and some other stuff. If you want to borrow anything, e-mail me and ask, or drop a review.

Notes: _Italics_ indicates pokemon talk, indicates telepathy, and ** indicates mental musings. 

Timeline: 3 days later… 10 days in all… timeline repairs?

Tmp – Rockets can't see the wings. Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan can manifest as a normal Vulpix and Pikachu, remember? Angel is the second guardian of Charlotte's Sun card set. The judge, while Vulpix is the decision maker. Um… remember how Todd had a Kangaskhan? Teresa's love for Ash will be an important plot device later. Remember, Ash doesn't know!

Ranma – Hi! You can call them Chosen, or Card Masters (since they aren't catching anymore) if it makes you feel better. I don't like using card captors either, so I usually use Chosen. Gracias!

Silver#2 – I will, as soon as I get some more reviews!

Severus' Potions Mistress – Hi! Well, TR won't stand much chance against two Chosen… it's fun putting Ash in costumes! *Bright Smile*

Eevee99 – Thanx! *Hugs Vulpix-chan* _vulpix-chan_: HELP! I'm being squashed!

Inami – Hmm…one thing at a time! Eriol _is_ powerful enough to travel to Charlotte's world, but… he's not the one testing Ash! Someone else is… also, whoever it is, is checking on Ash's progress, and I'd say the poor kid is already having enough trouble changing cards already. He will get more tests when he returns to his original pokéverse though! And your secret is safe. *Smile*

Episode 50: The Return of Destiny

            "Muk, use Sludge Bomb!"

            "Kingler, use Guillotine!"

            "Fearow, use Drill Peck!"

            Teresa ducked behind a tree. How had they gotten into this? They had just been riding along, when a group of punks jumped out of the nearby bushes and demanded their money. Charlotte and Ash had immediately gone for their poke balls, but a blast of Superglue had closed down that option quickly.

            Now, the two were glued together and rather angry about the situation.

            "Can you reach your key?" Charlotte whispered as the three aforementioned pokemon knocked out the two guardians before they had a chance to transform. Angel had gone on ahead, unfortunately.

            "Maybe…" Ash said, trying to reach up to his neck. Then, he shook his head. "I think my hand is glued to my waist."

            "Great." Charlotte muttered. "Well, I guess we're stuck then."

            A few minutes later, the punks returned, looking very satisfied indeed. Their eyes glinted as they watched their captives try to free themselves.

            "It's no use." The leader, Spike said. "You're stuck there 'till the sun explodes. There's no way you can get out of this!"

            "Oh yeah?" Charlotte asked. "You think you're so great, don't you? I bet we could take you on, if you hadn't cheated!"

            "Yeah!" Ash said, not knowing what she was doing, but deciding that anything was better than being glued to the forest floor.

            Spike laughed hoarsely. "Quit lying, kids. Or maybe you're not kids, I'm sure the boys would like to have some fun with you, heh, heh, heh…"

            Ash winced. Whatever they were planning did not sound good at all.

            Teresa stayed hidden. She didn't want to give her position away, plus she was still taping…

            When Spike moved over to stroke Charlotte's cheek, she spat in his face. Ash did the same to one of the green-haired leering males who were trying to get a hold of him.

            "Feisty, aren't cha?" Spike asked as he wiped his face. "But you'll have to do better than that, I'm afraid. We're not letting you go this easily."

            Ash groaned. * Shoot, what do we do now? I wish I could transform! Stupid spells… *

            Charlotte suddenly noticed something. Ash, wait. Do you think you could reach my key? I can probably get yours. They didn't think about that! 

            Right. Ash said. The bikers continued to talk and laugh among themselves, now satisfied that their captives were properly restrained.

            "Great idea, boss!" One said.

            "Right on!" Another said.

            "So, who gets first dibs?" The third wanted to know as he leered at the captives, who glared back at him with fire in their eyes.

            "Me, of course." Spike said as he walked forwards. "After all, it was _my_ idea." The others muttered a bit but all stepped back.

            Ash waited until he was close before reaching over and grabbing Charlotte's sun key, with his teeth, just as she grabbed his star key. 

            "Now!" Charlotte said. Ash nodded and they both threw their keys up into the air. "RELEASE!"

            The punks stepped back, uncertain.

            The waves of magic that surrounded their transformations quickly destroyed the superglue like it was butter.

            Ash smirked as his staff materialized in his hands. "Pidgeot!" He called, as the beige and white wings sprouted out of his back. "Let's Fly!" He took off into the air. Charlotte followed on her own pidgeot.

            "Snorlax!" Ash called, changing the pokemon card into the Ash card. "Use Strength!" Snorlax nodded and slammed its fists into a nearby boulder, sending rock shards flying at the unfortunate thieves.

            Teresa breathed a sigh of relief and continued to tape. This was good! What was even better was that Pika-chan had put a permanent protection spell over her a few days ago so she could tape in peace.  
            

            "Vaporeon, Surf!" Charlotte called. The pokemon card nodded and immediately began drowning the poor souls.

            "P-please don't kill us." Spike begged.

            "Why?" Ash asked. "You tried to kill us!"

            "No! I mean, we just wanted to have a look at you guys, we wouldn't have killed you, honest!"  
            "You would have, after… damaging us." Charlotte said coldly. She turned to Ash. "It's your choice. I would have killed them in an instant, but…"

            Ash hesitated. "Do we have to?"

            Charlotte shrugged and pointed to Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan, lying bruised and battered on the forest floor. "Look what they did."  
            Ash ran over to Pika-chan. "Are you okay?" There was no response. Ash shook the little guardian timidly. "Pika-chan?"

            Still no response.

            This was enough to make Ash snap. "I can't believe it! You hurt people and pokemon just for the fun of it!" The star in his staff shone blindingly white, as Ash poured all of his pain and frustration into it. From the shimmering strands of magic, a card shape began to take place…

            Ash didn't seem to notice. * If only I could have transformed… I could have saved her! *

            Charlotte noticed what was going on and decided not to interfere. Soon, a card floated in front of Ash's wand, almost touching it. 

            Ash swung his wand forwards, eyes completely blank as the magic poured into his body. "DESTINY!" The card shimmered and exploded in a veil of shimmering sparkles, covering his body. When the light cleared, Destiny stood there, golden eyes blazing angrily, armor shining in the noonday sun, razor sharp white wings poised and ready to attack. 

            The thugs paled. Ash didn't even give them time to attack before two Hyper Beams and an Aeroblast took care of them by blasting them through the forest clearing easily and sending them to their deaths.

            As soon as the attack was over, Ash fainted and the card's magic wore off. It floated into his pocket. Charlotte quickly hurried over and used her own Wand of the Water Guardian to partially heal him. After awakening the guardians and having a quick discussion, they decided that he should be allowed to sleep, so his body could heal itself naturally.

            Pika-chan kept watch over him as night fell…

            Teresa stared. * I never knew Ash was that powerful! How is this possible? *

            "How?" Pika-chan kept asking.

            "What do you mean?" Vulpix-chan asked. "He's a card master now, right? So he can create cards."

            "But this is different from what he used…"  
            "That's probably cause he was just changing Clow Cards into 'Ash cards', instead of using raw magic to create a new card."  
            "Will he be okay?" Teresa asked anxiously.

            "Probably." Charlotte said as she read his magic aura. "He won't die, if that's what you're worried about. But it will take time for his magic to restore itself."  
            Teresa sighed. * I wish I could do something… *

            Soon, it was too dark to see. Vulpix-chan lit a fire and they dozed off next to it. However, Teresa looked at Ash for a good while before she finally fell asleep. *Ash, please be okay… *

End Episode 50! So, what do you think? The Destiny card finally appeared! Hehehehe! So, Ash is doing pretty well, ne? C&CC please! Flames will be donated to baby Charmanders that can't light fires yet!

Note: Go read 'Betrayal, etc.' this is also by me, it has the prophecy of the triple guardianship, which is pretty important in later episodes of this story…

Does anyone know what 'Wataru' means? *Lance's Japanese name* I couldn't find it online…

Or 'Ryuu no Meijin-sama?"


	11. aftermath the future looks pretty grim

Episode 51. The repercussions and implications of the last episode begin to catch up with Ash, and the others discover some disturbing events…

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo, Game FREAK, Shogakukan comics, etc. And even if I made any profit off my fanfic, it would probably be used to buy more pokemon stuff anyways…

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates pokemon speech.

Silver2 – Thank you! I'll try!

Mathias-8888 – Ah, thanx! Eep! I didn't mean to kill anyone in this version, I really didn't, but… *Sighs* Well, shows how you can plan and still mess up.

Inami – Okay! *Eyes camcorder suspiciously* Thank you! I just wanted to figure out what Lance's Japanese name was…

SnowTiger – Thank you! Heh, excitement or not?

Tmp – no, the guardians weren't _dead_, just unconscious. Pika-chan _likes_ Teresa's tapes, so… Um, the thugs really had no chance. I don't know? They were stupid, plus they didn't really have time to react… I don't think Wataru is named after anyone, not sure. Thank you!

Ranma – Well, I figured it was a good way to bring Destiny back. Why not?

Pikacar/Marle – I give up! I don't have to care about Wataru, since I call Lance 'Lance' anyways.

Fire Eevee – Yep, Ash just made the Destiny card out of pure magic. But this can prove dangerous later on…

Severus' Potion Mistress – You got that right! I don't feel sorry for the punks at all… *Smirk* 

Eevee99 – I know. *Hands over Vulpix-chan* I love Charmanders!

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – Team Aqua steal your pokemon? How? That's so mean! I hope you get them back!

Episode 51: Aftermath – the future looks pretty grim

            Ash yawned as he woke up. "W-what happened? What time is it?" He asked. His memories were blurry, because he had been in a trance when he had created the Destiny card, plus losing all that magic energy was disorienting.

            Pika-chan fluttered into Ash's view. "Hi, Ash! Are you up?"  
            "Pika-chan! You're okay!" Ash said in relief as he tightly hugged the little card guardian. "I was so worried!"  
            "I'm fine! I don't die that easily." Pika-chan said cheerfully. "Don't worry about me! I'm okay…but what about your condition? You've been sleeping for four days already, Ash."

            "It's been two weeks." Charlotte said. "If you being in this dimension had been accidental, than you would have returned already."

            "Does that mean there's a spell keeping me here?" Ash asked. "But who would do something like this?"

            "I'm afraid I don't know." Charlotte replied. "But I'll try to make you as comfortable as possible while you're still here."  
            "Thanks." Ash said. * Now how am I going to get home? * He morosely fiddled around with his AIPL, before deciding that he might as well use this chance to try and enter the Cosmos League.

            "Let's see what types of pokemon are around here." Ash said as he pressed a few buttons. Soon, a display came up. 

            "Wow! There's a lot of sleeping pokemon around here!" Ash said.

            Charlotte nodded. "Yes, many species of pokemon here are sleeping during the day, so it's a good time to catch them. But to do so, you have to get them out of the tree, which is more difficult than one would think…"

            She trailed off as she watched Ash attempt to climb up.

            "Wait! Since you didn't wear a costume for the last card, here's one now!" Teresa said as she produced one from her subspace backpack. "Here you go!"  
            Ash sighed, took it from her, and headed for the bushes.

            When Ash returned, Charlotte had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. The poor card master-to-be was decked out in pink… Dark pink overalls over a light pink t-shirt and a pink Jigglypuff headband with a Jigglypuff ears and tail, even a pair of pink ballet slippers. His socks were long pink stockings as well.

            Ash looked ready to wither up and die.

            Pika-chan burst out in a wave of uncontrollable guffawing. "Hahahaha! You look so funny!" She fell out of the air and rolled around on the ground, twitching with laughter. Vulpix-chan wasn't much better.

            Ash stuck out his tongue at her and pulled out Skymew's poke ball. "Okay, Skymew, I choose you!"

            Skymew popped out and did some aerial acrobatics. Hi! What are we doing? Oh my! What happened to your clothes? Hi, Charlotte! 

            "Skymew, can you use your water gun to scare out some pokemon? Oh, blame Teresa for the clothes. Yep, we've ended up in your home dimension." 

            Sure! Skymew said as she drenched the area. Several unlucky pokemon fell out of the nearby trees, still snoring.

            Ash blinked. There was a Vaporeon! And a Jolteon!

            "No way!" Ash said. "Okay, Oddish, go! Use Solarbeam!"

            Oddish popped out and began charging. The pokemon continued to sleep peacefully, even through the beam that plowed into them. Ash blinked, pulled out two poke balls, and caught them.

            A few minutes later, Ash came across a Flareon. * What is going on? * His mind screamed as he used Skymew to subdue her easily. One good Surf attack was all that it took. 

            "Maybe they're attracted to your aura?"

            "Oh yeah, I forgot about that factor!" Ash said. "This is so cool!" He did a few cartwheels to express his happiness.

            Skymew happily jumped around along with him. In the back of Skymew's mind, Sabrina yawned. For some reason, she wasn't feeling the energy drain associated with magic in this dimension. It was probably a good thing. And between Pika-chan and the other card captor, Ash should be safe enough, so she could take a break.

            They walked along for a while. Ash was now in a much better mood, thanks to the capture of three brand new pokemon – the three base eevelutions. Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon.

            "Great job!" Charlotte said.

            Ash sighed happily. "This is so cool!"

            "Too bad nothing's shown up yet." Teresa said with a sigh.

            "What do you mean?" Charlotte asked. "Is something bad _supposed_ to happen?"

            "Well, normally, when Ash wears one of my costumes, there's usually a good reason for it."

            "You got to see me catch 3 pokemon." Ash pointed out.

            "No, I mean odd events, like floods or giant teddy bears."  
            "Giant teddy bears?" Charlotte blinked incomprehensibly as she visualized a giant teddy bear. "Okay…"

            "Don't think about it. It's too weird." Ash said. 

            "I still think something should happen." Teresa said.

            As if fate had decided to confirm Teresa's pronouncement, something suddenly appeared in front of the party.

            It had rocky gray skin and resembled an ogre from children's fairy tales. A pair of red eyes glared balefully at the three travelers.

            "What is that?" Ash asked.

            Charlotte shrugged. "I don't' know. I have never seen anything like _this _before. But I don't think it is native to this dimension."

            "That means someone sent it here, right?" Ash asked as he put a hand to his key.

            "Yes. I suppose a malignant sorcerer could have summoned this."

            "Do you know any evil wizards?"

            Teresa cleared her throat. "Um, I hate to interrupt, but it looks like its getting ready to attack you…"

            "Release! JUMP!" Charlotte shouted. A pair of transparent wings sprouted from her ankles as she launched herself out of the way.

            "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!" Ash shouted. His staff grew into key form as the rock beast charged.

            "Rock is weak to water- Wartortle!" Ash shouted. The turtle pokemon appeared in a flash of white light as it changed, before pumping a mighty jet of water at the rock beast.

            "Wow!" Teresa said as she taped. Charlotte landed on the ground a few feet away and began her chant against demons as she held out her Triple Devastation Wand.

            But it had absolutely no effect.

            "Ash, I guess its up to you!" Charlotte called as she jumped out of the way of one of the monster's rocky fists. Ash gulped. Wartortle wasn't faring too well…

            "Can it be killed?"

            "If not, we have to incapitate it!" 

            "Right!" Ash said. "That means, Sleep, Confusion, Paralysis, or Poison. Hmm, let's try this – Butterfree!" The newly changed butterfly pokemon appeared, looking mostly the same, except it had a white star on its forehead.

            "Butterfree, use Poisonpowder!" Ash said. The Butterfree card nodded and doused the rock beast with her attack, but it didn't work at all.

            "Try Stun Spore!" Ash suggested. This attack was no better. And a minute later, Butterfree went flying into the air. Ash shuddered and reached for another card.

            "I hope this works… Jigglypuff! Use Sing!" This, at least, was sufficient enough to send the beast into dreamland, so they could take a closer look.

            "What is this?" Teresa asked.

            "No clue." Ash replied. "Might as well use my pokédex." He turned on his pokédex and was rewarded with a short description.

            "Golem. This is a demon, not a pokemon. Created by sorcerers as helpers, can be any element, although rock and ground are the most common types." Dexter beeped helpfully.

            "But how did it get here?"

            "Aha!" Charlotte said a few minutes later. From under its foot she removed a small piece of blue paper with a seal on it. Fire flickered from her fingers and the seal disintegrated. In the following instant, the monster vanished too.

            "What was that?" Teresa asked as she closed her camera.

            "A summoning spell." Charlotte said grimly. "Someone sent this here."

End Episode 51! Flames will be used to toast evil non-reviewing people. If you take the time to read it, at least drop a note! C&CC accepted, 10 Reviews for next chapter if you don't want to wait!

There, I got all 3 Eevelutions! Therefore, nobody should be unhappy! Right?


	12. but we only wanted a break

Episode 52! Yeah! I love writing CCA! It's probably one of my favorite fics. Of course, as I'm the authoress, that's not saying much.

Disclaimer: Anyone who claims that Shadow owns pokemon will be richly rewarded, in fact I may even write you a birthday or Christmas fic! Anyone who tries to sue Shadow will be malleted and sent to an island inhabited by cannibals. Oh, and Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan, Eterneon, the Triple Devastation Wand, etc. are MINE!

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and _italics_ indicates pokemon speech!

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – Oh, I hope you get your pokemon back! So, I will keep on writing, yeah!

Inami – Hi! I've heard there are 4 CCS seasons but I've only seen the Clow cards arc and the Sakura cards arc and the first movie. There's more? *Looks at camcorder suspiciously* I hope you're not taping me…

Ranma – well, there _is_ some connection…

Rowena Ravenclaw – Vaporeon lover! Hehehehe… anyways, I'm glad. They don't show CCS in America, they show *shudder* Cardcaptors… you're right! Who wouldn't review?

Pikacar/Marle – eevelutions galore! Yippee!

Eevee99 – You really love Vulpix-chan don't you? * Gently takes Vulpix-chan away, Vulpix-chan starts breathing normally again*

Mathais –8888 – Well, not that likely. Remember, Ash has Eterneon too… Eevelutions galore!

Tmp – well, the Sunny/Jolteon thing will play itself out. Um, I thought I gave a description in the last chapter. Charlotte didn't help b/c she's trying to let him do things on his own. I'm not telling when Ash is coming back! It will probably be at the end of the Dark Apprentice arc.

Fire Eevee – you're right! *Slaps forehead* Oh well, no, it's not related to pokémon.

Silver2 – okay, I'm working on it!

Satoshi a.k.a. Heero_YuyZ - I'll try, sounds like a good idea!

Episode 52: But we only wanted a break…

            "But who?" Ash asked.

            Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan fluttered out of a bush where they had been watching the battle. "It would take a very powerful magician to do this."  
            "Could it be…Clow Reed?" Vulpix-chan asked. "I could have sworn that I felt his aura for a second."

            "That's possible." Pika-chan said. "Ash, you felt Clow's aura a few times before when strange things happened in our dimension, right?"

            "Right." Ash affirmed.

            "But Clow should have died." Charlotte interjected. "So is it conceivable that someone is posing as him?"

            "Impossible. His aura is unique." Vulpix-chan said.

            "So if it _is_ Clow, why is he doing this?"

            "I don't know…"

            Finding nothing else to say, they climbed back on their horses and continued on their journey.

Three days later…

            "Welcome to Amber City."  
            Ash looked around. It was not as bad as Sapphire and Topaz city had been. The buildings ranged in color from black to a pale yellow. A large variety of colors were present, but that was due to the fact that amber came in several different colors.

            "What's with all the cities?" Teresa asked.

            Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "The names correspond to the color of the city. Is that so hard to understand?"

            Teresa growled. *Grr… she gets on my nerves. *

            Angel shrugged.

            "So, where's the gym?" Ash asked.

            "Oh, this one's hidden. You'll have to find it yourself." Charlotte said. "Good luck! I'm going shopping!"  
            She skipped off.

            Ash sweatdropped. * It must be a girl thing… My normal clothes are fine for me. *  He was wearing his usual red-and-white jacket, black t-shirt, black jeans, and red and white sneakers. His league cap was on his head, and his black hair was neatly spiked back. He was also wearing the blue gloves from Giovanni.

Ash pulled out a pair of binoculars and began to look around for a gym.

            Teresa helped. Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan went to the nearby candy store to pig out on all the great sweets. Soon, they walked out with huge paper bags filled with candy. Ash sighed, but at least it wasn't _his_ money they were spending.

            Teresa yawned. "Well, if you are going to fight a gym leader, you'd better wear a costume."  
            "Do I have to?"

            "Yes." Ash sighed and went to change. He came out in a dark red kimono and sandals. On the kimono were little embroidered white flowers. His hair was pulled into a ponytail with a red ribbon on the end.

            "I feel really stupid."

            "Well, it's not _that_ bad." Pika-chan reassured him. And besides, it's just a gym leader, not a card or something weird. 

            Ash was so frustrated that he punched a nearby pillar. To his surprise, the pillar opened. On the 'door' was a sign. Ash wondered if everyone on Cosmos Island was paranoid or something.

            "The Gaia gym, Leader Thomas?" Ash asked. "Okay, then. Let's go!" He jumped in, along with the other 3 people/pokemon.

            Ash landed on a grassy field. There on the other side of the field, sat a boy in dark shiny clothes with glossy orange hair.

            "I'm Ash Ketchum and I challenge you for the Gaia badge!" Ash said.

            The boy took a sip of water from his pink thermos and looked up. "Well… considering the you actually found my gym, I shall oblige you. This shall be a three on three battle."  
            "Fine by me!"

            "Challenger picks first." Thomas said, not even bothering to glance at Ash. Feeling a bit annoyed by the guy's arrogance, Ash threw out his first pokemon.

            "Skymew, I choose you!"  
            Thomas looked intrigued. "So you actually managed to catch one of the sky fliers? Oh well, at least I know its weak spot. Haunter, I choose you!"  
            The ghost pokemon materialized opposite Skymew, but she didn't even look nervous.

            "Skymew, Psychic!" Ash said. Skymew nodded and blasted the ghost with the full-blown psychic attack. Haunter flinched and began to fall slowly. After all, with the weakness poison had to psychic attacks, it was to be expected.

            "Haunter, counter-attack with Night Shade!" A wave of purplish black energy streaked through Skymew, but it just bounced off her blue protective bubble.

            "How about Spark, then?" Ash asked. The paralyzing ball of electricity shot at Haunter, who barely managed to dodge in time.

            "Hypnosis." Thomas said.

            "Fine. Skymew, Transform." Ash said. Skymew nodded and turned into an Eterneon, before a bolt of white light blasted Haunter into the nearest wall.

            "Impressive. Haunter, return." Thomas said. "Ah, but a dual water/flying type is super weak to electric attacks… so I will choose Electrode!"

            The giant exploding ball appeared on the field. It instantaneously began to shoot off sparks at the floating psychic pokemon.

            "Skymew, use Dig!" Ash said, not impressed. Skymew nodded, formed a shovel out of blue energy, and dug a tunnel, which she dived in afterwards.

            "Electrode, use Swift!" The stars shot through the tunnel, and from the yelp, apparently hit their target.

            Skymew, are you ok? Ash questioned.

            Just a bit tired. But I can win this. Skymew quickly finished the Dig attack, and sent Electrode on a one-way trip into orbit.

            Ash smiled and gave Thomas a peace sign. "I've already beat 2 of your pokemon. Can't you just give me the badge now?"

            Thomas looked angry. "No. Now see if you can defeat my secret weapon!"

            A trapdoor opened, revealing an Umbreon.

            Before Ash could call any orders, a Darkness Beam attack plowed into Skymew, knocking her out. Ash quickly recalled her. After all, light was weak to dark, and Skymew hadn't been prepared to counter an attack so fast.

            "In that case, I'll use Jolteon!" Ash's new Jolteon (not Sunny) came out and took his position on the field.

            "Umbreon, Darkness Beam again!"    

            "Jolteon, use Match Thunder!" Jolteon nodded as energy bolts gathered above its head and all smashed into the Umbreon. "Now use Thunderwave!"

            The paralyzed Umbreon struggled to move, but couldn't.

            "Fine. You win." Thomas said rudely as he tossed Ash a badge.

            Ash muttered something about sore losers under his breath as he exited the gym, with his new Cosmos League badge. Teresa finished taping and shrugged. Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan were still eating, so they weren't paying much attention anyways.

            When he got out, he saw that the city was engulfed in flames.

End Episode 52! *Nasty smile* you know what happens if you don't review… Dragonites and rabid Pichu rise up from behind the authoress, growling. Authoress snaps her fingers and they attack... 

I prolly won't post again until Saturday, because of – SATS!


	13. Is peace too much to ask for!

Episode 53! Yatta! 

Disclaimer: Shadow doth not own pokemon. It belongeth to the noble Nintendo, Game FREAK, 4Kids, Shogakukan comics... Suing is a _sin_. Repent or die! 

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates pokemon speech. As if you didn't already know…

Ranma – you wanted action, now it's here!  
Tmp – Let's see. That was the Gaia Badge. The flames will be explained. The red kimono was fun to put in.

Moonblade – yep, father is a Ditto, other parents have been Espeon, Umbreon, and Jolteon…

Pikacar/Marle – Aw, I hope you get better soon!  
Inami – Thanx for reviewing, haven't seen 2nd movie yet, but I want to.

Rowena Ravenclaw – that _is_ coming along, you just have to wait until the ice master shows up.

Nikki Wind and Crystal wind – ok! *Types frantically*

SnowTiger – well, you reviewed this one…

Silver2 – Hehehehe… *Imagines reviewers on cliffs*

Animefan – Thank you! So I guessed right. Dragon Master!  
Severus' Potion Mistress – Ah, the people tend to be oblivious to everything, I guess that's good…

Fire Eevee – I was being sarcastic about the electrode. They exited the same way they came, or teleported.

Eevee99 – yay! Vulpixes are so kawaii!  
  


Episode 53: Is peace too much to ask for?

            Charlotte swore angrily as a particularly nice dress she had wanted to try on burst into flames. "Can't a person shop in peace? Key that hides the power of the sunlight, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Charlotte commandeth you, Release!"

            "Shield!" A clear shield of red energy sprung up in front of her. Charlotte quickly raced out of the mall, still clutching her shopping bags. "Now where would the others be?"

Meanwhile…

            "Release!" Ash said as he grabbed his staff. "Okay, Blastoise, Wartortle!" The pokemon cards popped out and started to douse the nearest flames. "Storm, Vaporeon, Skymew, please help too!" The pokemon nodded and began using Surf and Water Gun to aid the others in extinguishing the fire.

            Thomas, who was still in his underground gym, was totally unaware of this fact.

            "I wonder what's causing this?" Ash asked as he sprayed a jet of water from his staff. "Could it be a fire demon or some fire pokemon on a rampage?"

            "Maybe!" Pika-chan said. Vulpix-chan was guarding Teresa as best as she could, by deflecting the jets of fire with gusts of wind.

            Skymew shuddered and almost transformed, but Pika-chan noticed. "No, Sabrina! We need a water-type! Don't transform!"

            Sabrina scowled a bit but called off the transformation. Skymew returned to her fantastic deluge of water.

"Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release!" The wings on Ash's staff extended and touched the card, before it turned a glowing white color. "Vaporeon!" The Vaporeon card came out and melded with Ash's Vaporeon, which began to glow a deep blue as it charged up for Atlantis Tide.

"The fires just keep raging!" Pika-chan said. "Something or someone must be causing this!"

Deep cackling laughter sounded behind them. They turned and spotted a short, shriveled-looking man, accompanied by a dragon…a real, live, fire-breathing dragon. Not a Charizard or a Dratini, but a dragon.

"Hahahaha! So Clow's new student finally shows their face!"

            "Who are you?" Ash asked, as he clutched his staff tightly.

            "Foolish boy, I am Bob the Dragon-Mage! I trained under Clow and I am more than a match for you and his pathetic playthings!"

            "The dark apprentice." Vulpix-chan said. Her eyes turned gold and her wings enveloped her in a cocoon. When the feathers peeled away, an elegant ninetails with gold-and-red armor on its chest, back, and head stood there, golden wings outstretched and growling angrily.

            "The one who fell to the dark side?!" Pika-chan cried, as she, too, underwent transformation. Her wings spread out and she also transformed. Brown eyes glared at the mage, showing burning hatred.

            Skymew also transformed. When the lights cleared, Sabrina stood there, ruby shards floating in one hand, ready to attack.

            "Sorry I'm late!" A voice shouted. Charlotte landed on the roof. By her side was a pokemon that resembled a leopard, pure white, with small black spots surrounded by rings of gold, and silver wings. It purred silkily and lazily extended its sharp silver claws. Angel. The second guardian of the sun card set, in its true form. It wore no armor, unlike Vulpix-chan, but it did have a golden halo plated with blue and white stones.

            "Prepare to face my wrath!" Bob shouted as he sent a barrage of fireballs at both card masters. Charlotte flipped out of the way, while Ash surrounded himself with a psychic barrier.

            "Hey, do you have any idea what's going on?" Ash asked.

            "No clue." Charlotte replied. "But if he's trying to kill us, we'd better fight back! Flareon! Fire Blast!" The fire-type eevelution nodded and tried to flame Bob, but the Dragon negated it with a blast of fire.

            "Why don't we go for weakness?" Ash asked as he pulled out a pokemon card he was going to change. "Like…Tentacruel!"

            The dual poison/water jellyfish landed on the ground and immediately sent a hail of poison stings at Bob. But the dragon just flamed them all to ashes.

            "We have to get rid of that dragon first." Pika-chan said. She and the other guardians immediately began attacking it. "You guys take care of the magician!"  
            "Hai!" Both Chosen shouted.

            "Scyther!" Ash said, as the blade appeared in his hand. "And Pidgeot!" The wings sprouted out of his back and he heard a tearing sound as the kimono he had been wearing felt the damage. * Oh well. Maybe Teresa will quit making me costumes now. *

            Teresa gulped as she got a really good view of Ash's chest.

            "Jump!" The clear wings sprouted out of Charlotte's ankles as she launched herself into the air. "And Arrow!" In her hands, a bow formed, and a deluge of magical arrows began flying at the self-proclaimed Dragon Mage.

             "I only need one card to defeat you." Bob said calmly. "Disruption!" A card of black energy formed in his hands. Instantly, Charlotte's arrows headed for Ash, while Scyther and Pidgeot streaked towards Charlotte.

            Both shrieked as they were hit with the other's attacks.

            The guardians immediately left their own battle and flew to their Chosen. Bob smirked and vanished along with his dragon. "Till next time, weaklings!" His maniacal laughter echoed through the still-burning city.

            "Are you all right?" Pika-chan asked anxiously. Ash was peppered with arrows and resembled a straw target. 

            "Um, no?" Ash said.

            "Here, let me help." Sabrina said as she began pulling them out, one by one.

            "Ow! Hey, that hurts!"

            "It's supposed to."

            Pika-chan scampered over to Ash's backpack that he had dropped when his wings had sprouted out and retrieved the Wand of the Water Guardian. She soon returned and the two guardians began to patch up their master.

            "Wow, that looks really bad."

            "Ow! How could I have gotten shot in the buttocks?"  
            "I have no idea." Pika-chan said as she attempted to yank it out. 

            "YEOW!" Ash screamed. "Hey, could you be a bit gentler?"

            "No." Pika-chan said apologetically. As soon as the arrow was out she sprayed the area with potion.

            Sabrina took advantage of Ash's wide-open mouth to position the Healing Potion X over his throat. Ash gulped down the Potion and gagged a bit, but kept it down. * At least that's going to help… *

            "This could take a while…"

            "You've got a rather nasty slash on your back from the Scyther's blades." Angel said as he padded over with a potion in his teeth.

            "Don't I know it?" Charlotte muttered. "Ow, that stings!" 

            "It's supposed to clean the wound so it doesn't get infected." Vulpix-chan said. "Quit fidgeting."

            "He's really powerful." Charlotte said as Angel bandaged her up. "What are we going to do now?"

            "I have no idea…"

            "But…"  
            Angel poured the antibacterial cream on Charlotte's back. "There, that should help."  
            "Thanks, Angel."

            "Here's a Healing Potion VII." Vulpix-chan said.

            "Thanks." Charlotte said as she drank it down, ignoring the taste. * Did we run out of all the nicer flavors? *

            Elsewhere…

            "Master! Bob has broken free from the seal!"  
            "Don't worry about it, Spinel." Eriol said as he stroked the cat's head. "I'm sure that the new generation of card captors will be able to face this challenge. And it'll help them create and change more cards."  
            "If you say so…" The cat looked worried, but flew off. * I hope you know what you're doing… *

End Episode 52! So, what do you think? Confused? Drop me a review and I'll explain in my author's notes next time! Until then, see ya!

Shadow signs off. 

Ash and Pika-chan pull out weapons. Authoress shrieks and dashes off. They chase her until she promises to write the next chapter…


	14. discussion and planning

Episode 53! The two now-patched up Chosen and their guardians discuss what to do about this new situation…

Disclaimer: Shadow owns Bob the Dragon-Mage, Charlotte, Destiny, Eterneon, The Wand of the Water Guardian, etc. Nintendo owns pokemon. Got it?

Notes: indicates thought-speak a.k.a. telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and _italicized text _indicates pokemon speech. 

Note: Charlotte can use non-pokemon cards, like Jump, Arrow, and Shield, because she created them. Once Ash reaches a certain magic level he'll be able to create non-pokemon cards too!

Silver#2 – Hehehehe, thanx!

Tmp – Bob is the antagonist in this story, Hehehehe…

Ranma – you're right, Eriol's not the only one in on this…

Mathais-8888 – Ah, can't believe you caught that! Yes, I know. There will be more fights in later chapters…

Severus' potion mistress – uh, I named him Bob for a very good reason that shall be revealed after 'Dragon's Love' is done. Um… I guess the guardian pokemon knew how to stay out of harm's way.

Pikacar/Marle – heh, I thought it was fun to write. Yep, Teresa's getting to be problematic…

Inami – maybe, oh well, I try to make my chapters roughly the same length

Eevee99 & Star – correct, thanks for you support!

SnowTiger – Eriol is Eriol, but he's not playing Eriol's role, does that make sense?

Fire Eevee – Wand of the Water Guardian makes potions, remember? Review page looks normal to me…  
  


Episode 54: Discussion and planning

            "What do we do?" Charlotte asked as she and Ash sat in the lobby of the Amber city pokemon center. They had chosen to stay there for the night, to recuperate before heading to the next city. "We can't just leave this place, because if Bob attacks again, we'd have the blood of innocent people on our hands."  
            "But the fire died down a few minutes after Bob left. Do you think we're his targets?" Ash asked.

            "If he _is _targeting you, then we really ought to leave." Sabrina said. She had removed her wings. The other guardians were in their small forms, as not to attract attention from passerby.

            "Bob is a very persistent man. He will achieve his end through any means, even if he has to burn down all of Kanto to do it." Pika-chan added.

            "He's also very powerful." Vulpix-chan piped up.

            "Wait, I wanted to ask about that." Ash said. "How come he disabled both of us with just one card? I thought you had to be a card master to create cards?"  
            "You do. But Bob, well, since you have to fight him anyways, I suppose that some information won't hurt." Angel said. "Bob was once Clow's apprentice, but he was too power-hungry and became convinced that Clow was refusing to teach him. So he delved into dark magic and created his own set of Forbidden cards. By the time Clow found out, it was too late to destroy them. All Clow could do was to seal him. But it has been so long since then, that the magic slowly wore off until finally Bob was able to break free. Hundreds of years, in fact."

            "So we have to re-seal him?" Charlotte asked.

            "Yes. Only the ones that hold the cards created by Clow have the power to stand up to him."  
            "But you saw what happened today." Ash said. "What can we do?"  
            "Well… Ash, I suggest that you start intensive training to build up your magic reserves as well as your resistance, and Charlotte; you're going to have to go through the same thing. And that includes water magic."

            Charlotte paled, but nodded.

            "That's all we know about him, so… I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do." Pika-chan said apologetically. Sabrina turned back into Skymew, and went back into its poke ball. The others stared glumly at each other before they all sighed in unison.

            About half an hour later…

            "Fine then. I guess we have to train." Charlotte said, sighing. She was sitting morosely by the side of the pool, dressed in a black one-piece swimsuit and looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

            "If Bob finds out about your hydrophobia, then that will be another weapon he can use against you." Angel said. "You have to conquer this fear."

            "I know." Charlotte would have said more, but than Ash walked in, wearing navy blue swim trunks and an annoyed expression.

            "Hi. Sorry to bother you, but Pika-chan decided that this would be a good time to work on hand to hand underwater combat."

            Charlotte sighed and directed a searing glance towards the small pikachu perched on Ash's head. "I see. Okay, then. No use wasting time." And with that, she jumped into the pool. Ash followed, after making sure that his gills were in place.

            Charlotte closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down, before forming a short sword of gold energy in one hand. Okay, I'm ready. She said. 

            Ash nodded and formed a sword of white energy in his own hand. Can we start now? 

            Pika-chan nodded from above. Storm floated by, as she was supposed to watch the fight and make sure that nobody got hurt.

            Begin! 

            The two card masters immediately began trying to hit the other person with their own sword. They both managed to block the other's attacks, but neither one was successful in actually touching the other.

            Ash blinked. * Shouldn't she be better than I am? *

            Charlotte beat down her fear at the fact that they were underwater, before she launched herself at Ash again. Ash blocked her attack, before using the momentum from his swing to throw her a few feet. (A/N: Hey, they're fighting underwater, okay? It's got to be hard!)

            Suddenly, Vulpix-chan noticed that her Chosen was turning blue and looked ready to pass out. She quickly flew down and dragged Charlotte out. 

            "What's wrong?" Ash asked as he swam up to the surface and poked his head out of the water. Teresa was moping because she couldn't tape underwater.

            "Charlotte is hydrophobic to the point of extremity." Vulpix-chan said. "Part of that comes from the fact that she's fire-blooded, that means her blood is basically just fire. It makes her a lot more adept at magic, but the drawback is that she can't _stand_ water."

            Charlotte stuck out her tongue at the flitting guardian.

            "No cure?" Pika-chan asked. "Is it possible to change this condition?"

            "Nope." Vulpix-chan said. "It's like asking Ash to give up his powers as a legendary pokemon. This is just something that she was born with. We can't change it. Besides, it _is_ advantageous in certain situations. She doesn't really have to breathe or metabolize food."

            "Hmm…" Pika-chan said. * She's not a pokemon… and she's fire-blooded. She must be one of the last remaining Gifted. *

            "So what can we do to help?" Ash asked.

            Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I don't know. But this is something I'll have to deal with. Thanks for caring, though."

            "I guess the session's over then." Ash said as he headed to the showers. Sunny padded along behind him, as protection from Teresa. Ash took a nice, long shower, before getting dressed in his normal t-shirt, jeans, and blue jacket.

            Charlotte sighed as she mixed herself a starshine potion to replenish her magic supply. Keeping her alive while underwater was quite taxing, since every time she touched water, part of her 'went out' and she would grow weaker.

            "Are you okay?" Vulpix-chan asked, feeling a bit guilty about forcing her Chosen to participate in such an arduous exercise.

            "I think that we should do water resistance and magic training separately." Angel said as he fluttered over her head.

            "Yes, that would probably be better." Charlotte said. 

            "Say, I was just wondering… shouldn't you be going to school now?" Vulpix-chan asked.

            "You only noticed _now_? I sent Mirror to pose as me."

            "Oh."

            "Let's have dinner now." Ash said as he pulled out his Fruit basket. His pokemon, both old and new, cheered.

            "Okay, everybody gets poke chow with three toppings. Is that enough?"

            _Yep!  
            Yum!_

_            Most definitely!_

_            I love tuna fish!_

_            I want sunflower seeds!  
            _After a while, all the pokemon were satisfied. Ash had a peanut butter sandwich, some hot chocolate, and some cookies.

            "Having fun?" Charlotte asked as she came in.

            "Hi! Yep."

            "You have a lot of pokemon, Ash."

            "So do you!"

            Charlotte nodded. "Well, sleep well tonight. I hope nothing attacks."

            Ash gulped. * Oh shoot! I forgot how I usually get attacked a night. Oops. *

            He nodded.

            "Night."

            Teresa sighed as she set up her portable sewing machine. "Time to work on this costume… it's going to be so nice. But for once, I wish Ash would thank me…"

End Episode 54! Shadow dances and twirls, before winking at her reviewers. Flames will be donated to baby Eevee to keep them warm on long winter nights!


	15. odd trials and tribulations abound

Part 53! Yeah! Shadow smirks and holds out Oreo cookies to those that did review. Then, she takes out a scythe from behind her back and points it angrily at those who didn't.

Disclaimer: Have you not, with your superior intellect, come to the conclusion that Shadow does not own pokemon yet? I only own Destiny, Charlotte, the whole idea, Pika-chan, Eterneon, etc.

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates pokemon speech and I think that's all the info you need to know.

Ranma – you know a lot, don't you? *Smile*

Pikacar/Marle – why wouldn't Pika-chan be mysterious? Hmm… I talk about gifted in a different fic, but maybe I can put in an explanation. Ash will be practicing his magic.

Rowena Ravenclaw – Heh. *Smiles and protects herself behind a wall of flame and lightning* Don't worry, I will update.

Silver #2 – yep, Charlotte's hydrophobic. Thought I mentioned it earlier, oh well.

SnowTiger – Eevees galore! I love eevees! Thanx for the compliment

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – I control this world, plus it was winter when I wrote this, so… anyways, thanx!

Severus' Potion mistress – um, Charlotte technically should be better than Ash, why wouldn't he be scared? Or if you mean Bob, he's dangerous. As for Pika-chan's costume obsession, he just doesn't like being shocked.

Tmp – gifted, you'll have to wait. Um, Charlotte's fire blooded, she just uses REALLY hot water, like boiling hot. That's how she deals with the problem.

Episode 55: Odd trials and tribulations abound

            It had been six days since the incident with Bob. Now, Charlotte was taking Ash to a deserted place to train. Or at least trying to achieve that goal... But they hadn't had any luck so far.

            "Who knew that there would be explorers searching for Articuno in the Sunburst Mountains?" Charlotte said.

            "Or treasure hunters near Lake Aqua trying to dig up hidden pirate gold?" Vulpix-chan added.

            "Or a mad scientist trying to create fire stones in the Volcano who chased us out with a flamethrower and a bunch of cloned pokemon?"

            "Or Team Rocket agents in the tropical forest, trying to locate Serebii?"

            "This is just not working, is it?" Charlotte asked as she urged her Arcanine to speed up its pace a little. 

            "Maybe Bob is doing this on purpose." Angel said from her shoulder. "It's possible." 

            "Perhaps." Charlotte said, furrowing her brow. "Hmm…"  
            "Is there _anywhere_ we can go?" Ash asked. 

            "I guess that we could always try the Kaze Forest."  
            "Forest of Wind? It's worth a try." Pika-chan said, shrugging. "After all, it can't hurt, can it?"

            "Then let's get going!" Ash said excitedly.

            Teresa was busy doodling in her sketchbook. * I ought to make Charlotte and Ash matching costumes…that would be cute. *

            _So where is Kaze Forest?_ Ponyta asked politely.

            Charlotte's Arcanine yawned. _It's not that far away. The only problem is that Kaze Forest is located on a small island in the middle of a lake._

_            Oh. _Ponyta didn't look very happy at the mention of water.

            "But we can teleport there." Angel said. 

            "Right!" Ash said, throwing out Eterneon. "Can you use Teleport Ring?" The light-type nodded happily and teleported them all to the island.

            "Well, here we are." Charlotte said as she set up camp. "It's not fancy, but it'll have to do."

            "Is there anything in this forest that we should watch out for?" Pika-chan asked. "I mean, any demons or anything?"  
            "There might be a few monsters here or there, but nothing you can't take care of. That's why most people don't come here." Charlotte said.

            "Oh. Well, if there's nothing much, let's go exploring!" Pika-chan said as she dragged Ash into the underbrush. 

            Teresa sighed and sat down in the small clearing where Charlotte was setting up. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

            Charlotte nodded. "Yes, can you sew? This tent seems to have been ripped." She handed Teresa the light blue plastic fabric structure. Teresa smiled and pulled out her mending kit. * Finally! I was getting tired of not doing anything. *

            After a while, Charlotte collected Vulpix-chan and headed off to work on her water resistance, leaving Teresa alone with Angel.

            "Are you jealous?" Angel asked.

            Teresa blinked and stared at the cat guardian. "What do you mean?"

            "I mean, you spend a lot of your time making costumes for Ash and taping him. Don't you ever wish that it was you?"

            Teresa shook her head and smiled a little bit. "No, because I want him to be happy. He's so cute when he smiles!"  
            Angel raised an eyebrow. * She's in love with the other card master? This is an interesting situation… and he seems to be rather clueless. *

            Teresa continued to hum. Soon, she was finished with the tent, so she pulled out her newest costume for Ash and began to work on it. * You know, now that Angel mentions it, I guess I _am_ kind of jealous. I mean, I see the two of them working together and training together, and I'm always on the sidelines. It _does_ get a bit annoying sometimes… Plus he likes her better. It's not fair. She's certainly pretty, she has her own magic and cards, and he respects her, they work well as a team, and I really feel left out a lot… *

            Angel curled up and took a nap.

            "Is this what she meant by monsters?" Ash asked as he looked at the oddly shaped purple blobs that were lying all over the meadow.

            "Why don't you check if they're pokemon first?"

            "Right." Ash tapped in a few buttons on his AIPL. "Hmm… it says that they're mutated ditto…"

            "I guess it's okay to attack them, then."

            Ash shrugged. "Vaporeon, Storm, I choose you!" The two pokemon materialized in a spray of mist and gave off their respective battle cries.

            Vaporeon immediately began using Ice Beam to freeze the nearest mutants, while Storm used Hyper Beam and Surf to take out some of the others. But in a few seconds, they were all awake. The ones that hadn't already been knocked out or immobilized all began to glow green.

            "Uh oh." Ash said as several fluorescent green energy beams flew towards him. "I thought ditto could only transform!"  
            "So did I, but these have changed. This won't be easy." Pika-chan said as she transformed and began using thunder pulses to pick off some of the ditto.

            "Bubble Blast!" Ash said, as he fired a blast of bubbles from his hands at the nearest ones. 

            Storm's horn began to emit light rays as she called down a storm. Lightning flashed and rain poured down in torrents. Most of the dittos were quickly washed away. Vaporeon and Pika-chan picked off the rest.

            Ash smiled and hugged his pokemon as soon as they were all gone. "Great job, you guys!"

            They smiled at him, before returning to their poke balls for some rest.

            Just then, Pika-chan paused. "Wait a second… Ash, you forgot about something."

            "What?"

            "Charlotte's hydrophobic, remember?"

            "Uh oh…"

            Meanwhile…

            "Ash had better have an extremely good reason for doing this." Charlotte said as she and Vulpix-chan hid in a tree, protected by the overhanging branches.

            Vulpix-chan nodded fervently. * I'm a fire type! I can't believe Pika-chan forget! Grr… see if I share my snacks with her again… *

            Teresa took out her green umbrella, put it over her head, and continued to sew Ash's costume. * Why waste time? *

            Angel shook out his fur and padded into the nearest tent for shelter.

End Episode 55! So, what did you think? That review button over there is really lonely… why don't you give it a click? And who knows, you might get rewarded! Flames will be used to burn down Nelvana, Mwahahaha!

Poll: If I wrote a story about me based on RPG logs, who would read it?


	16. in which important information is reveal...

Episode 56! Wow, I'm writing fast…

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo, Shogakukan comics, Game FREAK, 4Kids, etc. I own Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan, etc. though. If you want to borrow anything, drop me a review, and as long as you give me credit, I'll let you use the character.

Notes: indicates when minds are speaking to each other a.k.a. telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates poke speech.

Ranma – I named the user Bob for a very important reason. However, I can't say it here because I'm afraid I'll get flamed. Um… Charlotte won't hurt Ash _too_ bad.

Inami – no, haven't seen 4th move yet. Oh well, Arigatou for reviewing! Does Love = good?

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – thank you! *Smile*

Tmp – hmm… not sure what Ash is afraid of yet, but I'm sure it will be shown sometime. Um, I think Ash was too freaked out to catch the dittos.

Severus' Potion mistress – Kay!

Eevee99 and star – Hehehehe, *Smiles* Thanx!

SnowTiger – yep… poor lil' Ash…. ^_^

Pikacar/Marle – thank you! *Guardians are eating happily*

Fire Eevee – and what in the world of fanfiction is coincidence? Check out the pokemon RPG at ezboard to see what I mean by RPG logs.

Episode 56: In which important information is revealed

            "I'm sorry!" Ash apologized for the hundredth time. Charlotte had only set him on fire because she was too tired.

            "It's okay, I forgive you." Charlotte said as she finished drying her hair using a fire spell. "Next time, give me some fair warning."

            Pika-chan went to Vulpix-chan with a peace offering of eight marshmallow cookies and a mug of hot chocolate. "Friends?"  
            "Friends!" Vulpix-chan said eagerly as she wolfed down all the food. * This food is really good! Sure, it's okay, I understand. *

            Teresa smiled as she finished hemming Ash's newest costume. "This is going to be so pretty…"

            "So what were those glowing green blobs?" Ash asked.

            Charlotte looked thoughtful. "Well, it _is_ rumored that Team Rocket dumps some of their experimental pokemon here… that might be it."

            "That's part of the reason why nobody wants to come." Vulpix-chan said impishly, wagging her tails.

            "But there might be Team Rocket agents here, right?" Ash asked.

            "Perhaps. We'll have to be careful."

            Elsewhere… back in the normal pokéverse…

            "Dragonair! Ice Beam!"  
            The dragon pokemon fired out its attack, successfully freezing its opponent- a Sandslash – solid.

            "And the red trainer is out of usable pokemon! This victory goes to Lance the Dragon Trainer!"

            Lance recalled his Dragonair with a smile. "Good try." He told the other trainer, who scowled and stomped off.

            Lance returned to his room.

            So, how did it go? 

            "Do you even need to ask, Aerodactyl? I creamed him."

            Figures. After all, you have magic on your side, as well as dragon mastery. 

            "So I do." Lance said. He reached under his shirt and extracted a key with a sun on top, flanked by a moon and a star.

            "Key that hides the power of the darkness, show thy true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Lance commandeth you, Release!"

            The key glowed and turned into a staff that looked like a bigger version of the key. The only difference was that at the end, instead of a smooth knob, there was a sharp blade, glinting silvery bright.

            Lance smiled. "So, Ash. You've decided to escape to another universe. But it will simply be more work when you return. And I think some training would help… Loop!"

            A card formed in his hands. "All right, I want you to enter the other dimension and attack him. You know what to do."

            The card nodded and flew off.

            Back to the CP universe…

            Ash fidgeted in his sleep.

***************Dreamscape***********************************************

            Ash sighed as he noticed that he was once again standing atop the pokemon tower in Lavender Town. * Not again. * He sighed in exasperation. * At least I haven't had this dream for a while *

            In front of him, the cards fell, drifting away on the wind. But there were less of them this time. And out of the corner of his eye, he could faintly discern Sabrina's shadowy outline. Pika-chan still floated next to him, bobbing up and down, as if held there on a string by some invisible entity.

            His lips formed to activate the spell, but once again, he was unable to move. 

            His opponent, still shadowed, held out their staff. Power began to gather in it… a ball of dark blue energy formed and streaked towards him…

            A few cards sprang up in front of him, trying vainly to form a shield of protection, but there were so few of them…

            The white cards, his 'Ash cards'…

            And then the world erupted in a wave of blue.

**************End Dream***********************************************

            *Splash*

            Ash jerked awake, seeing Pika-chan hovering over his bed with a bucket of water.

            "Hi! Did you sleep well?"

            "Pretty well." Ash said as he coated himself with fire for a second to dry off all the water.

            "I've got breakfast ready." Charlotte said, holding up a stack of pancakes, still steaming. "I already had some."

            Ash's eyes lit up and he glomped the pancakes, before putting them ceremoniously on a plate and drenching them in syrup and whipped cream. (Yum! I love having this for breakfast w/berries!)

            "So, did you have any bad dreams?"

            "I had that dream again." Ash said. "I know I had a dream, but I can't remember it!"

            "Well, if it keeps repeating, it must be a prophetic dream." Pika-chan said. * But what is it foretelling? *

            "How much do you remember?" Vulpix-chan asked as she flew over, balancing a cherry on her nose.

            "Almost nothing." Ash admitted. (A/N: He won't remember his dreams until later. Okay? It's that way in the CCS storyline too…)

            "Cheer up, Ash. At least we haven't run into Bob, right?" Pika-chan asked optimistically as she snatched a pancake off his plate.

            "Right!" Ash said his former happy mood restored. 

            "Besides, you _did_ create the Destiny card." Charlotte said as she tossed him a package of juice.

            Ash's jaw dropped. "I did what?!"  
            "You didn't know?" Charlotte looked surprised. "Oh yeah, I forgot, you were in a trance when you did it."

            "I thought that was from energy loss since I changed some pokemon cards." Ash confessed.

            "Guess you learn something new every day." Vulpix-chan piped up.

End Episode 56! Send in your reviews or all my plotbunnies will die! Flames will be used to forge Windy, so she can blow Nelvana's buildings off a cliff and into the ocean below! That way, they can't dub anymore. Yay! 

Next chapter will be longer, if I get enough reviews.


	17. circles, circles, and more circles

Episode 57!

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon, but Destiny and Charlotte are mine! MWAHAHAHAH! Oh, and I don't own CCS either… the Clow Cards belong to CLAMP and Kodansha; the cards I create belong to me. 

Example of Clow Cards: Jump, Shield, Time, and Arrow… look, go to a CCS web site and click the clow cards. If its there, its not mine. If it isn't there, it's mine.

Examples of my cards: Nightmare, Paralyze, Terror…  
  


Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates pokemon speech. If you don't read my authoress's notes and get confused, then it's your own fault!

Pikacar/Marle – hmm. Well, magic is kind of common in my fics. *Guardians eat food happily*

Tmp – hmm…. Lance has 'Sakura' cards and pokemon cards, the moon card set. No, Lance is NOT Eriol. They are 2 different people. And the dream isn't referring to Johto, good guess though!

SnowTiger – no, Lance is just playing Eriol's part, not Eriol. FIRE RULES!

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – thanks, try to post Dragon's love soon

Ranma – guess you know my writing style too well… *sheepish grin*

Eevee99 & Star – thank you! ^_^

Silver2 – well, it _is_ mentioned in CCS…

Severus's Potions Mistress – well of course the dream is hard to decipher… it's supposed to be mysterious. Ash loves pancakes!

Fire Eevee – Lance is NOT Eriol, they are two different people both checking in on Ash. The address of the RPG I use is 

Look for threads started by shadowphantomness if you want to read up on my adventures a bit.

Digifan – thank you! Ash isn't sealing the cards though, he's changing them

Inami – yep, Lance is the pokemon version of Eriol, but Eriol is there too. If I can get the movie in Chinese or subbed I'll watch it. No dubs!

Timeline: 3 days later

Episode 57: Circles, circles, and more circles

            "Is it just me, or have we been walking in circles?" Teresa asked. "Shouldn't we have gotten farther into the Kaze Forest?"

            "Perhaps you're right." Charlotte said as she smiled. "Why don't we check?" She swung her key in a circle, and frowned as nothing happened.

            "I'll try. Magic to cards, cards to key!" Ash said eagerly. From his staff shot a very wavy and confused white beam.

            "Does that mean that the card is around us?" Teresa inquired. * Maybe if I find out more about magic, Ash will like me more. *

            "Yep." Ash said as he summoned his staff forward. "What could it be?"

            "No clue. Release!" Charlotte said, pulling out her own staff. "Hmm… it's around us… Maze?"

            "There's a maze card?"

            "Yes." Pika-chan said. "But wouldn't Maze try to trap us in one?"

            "We can fly up and check!" Ash said. "Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release! Fearow, I choose you!" White light surrounded the elegant flying pokemon, before it appeared in front of Ash, who climbed on. "I'll be down in a sec!" He called, as Fearow lifted him into the air.

            The others waited down below. After a few minutes, Vulpix-chan spoke up.

            "It's not Maze. If it was, the walls would have been visible by now, and we'd probably be trying to hack our way out."

            "Is it Return?" Charlotte asked, as a deck of cards formed in her hands. "I didn't create one like that yet."

            "No."

            "Time?" Pika-chan suggested. "That card is very dangerous."  
            "Yes, but Time shows the past to people with magic, even if it _is_ indirect." Angel stated. "So it can't be that either. I'm guessing… Loop."

            "I didn't think of that!"  
            "So how do you get out of Loop, whatever it is?" Teresa wanted to know.

            Charlotte smiled. "We'll wait for Ash to come back. To free yourself from Loop, you must strike the area where it's the weakest with a sharp object to break the spell, so it will free you."

            Teresa sighed. This was all going over her head. A minute later, Ash returned.

            "It's not Maze!"

            "We think its Loop." 

            "Loop?" Ash got a question mark over his head.

            "One of the Clow Cards."

            "Oh! Okay, I know. So we have to cut through it?"

            "Yes." Charlotte said. She flipped a card into the air and struck it with her staff. "Sword!" Her staff morphed into a slender rapier.

            "Scyther!" Ash called. His Scyther nodded and a sword with Scyther's wing blades on the hilt formed in his hand, taking the place of his wand.

            "Let's go!"

            "Wait! Can't you wear costumes? Pretty please?" Teresa asked.

            Ash sighed. Charlotte shrugged and leaned against a tree to wait, but…

            "I have a costume for you too!" Teresa said.

            Charlotte's jaw dropped. "What?"  
            "I'm sure you'll like it!" Teresa said cheerfully. "It matches Ash's! Here you go!"

            Charlotte stared at the pile of her cloth in her arms, than at Teresa, than at Vulpix-chan, who shrugged innocently.

            "_Vulpix-chan_…"

            "What? It's a good idea!"

            Charlotte angrily stalked off into the nearest bush. Unfortunately, it was the bush Ash was changing behind.

            "Yikes!"

            "Sorry!" Charlotte said, dashing into another bush across the clearing. 

            Ash sweatdropped. * What's going on here? *

            A few minutes later…

            Both Ash and Charlotte from the shrubbery. Ash was wearing white pants with feathery black patterns on them, and a matching top. He was also wearing dark blue boots that went up to his knees and black elbow-length gloves, plus a white fluffy Tomite-style hat with little earflaps. Charlotte was wearing the same top, but she had a white skirt and her boots were ankle boots. Instead of a hat, she had a headband. There was also a little bow on the back of her skirt. Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan both had black-and-white collars and bows.

            "I didn't know you had a costume too."

            "Blame Vulpix-chan."

            "Ahem!" Pika-chan said. "We are here to defeat that card, right? So let's go! Time's a-wasting!"

            "Yes ma'am!" Both said, saluting.

            They both took their swords and began walking towards the area where the magic concentration was the highest. Soon, they saw a faintly glowing red line.

            "Is that it?"  
            "Yes." Vulpix-chan said. "You just strike at it with your sword."

            "That's it?" Ash asked. "You mean we don't have to do some complex spell or anything like that?"

            "Nope."  
            "Okay!" Both pulled out their swords and slashed at the red line. The area around them seemed to shudder, before the line began to vanish.

            "Oh no you don't!" Ash said, throwing out a card. "MQ! Disrupt this time and prevent Loop from leaving this dimension!"

            The blocky card seemed to grin before enveloping Loop in a wave of black. Back in the pokéverse dimension, Lance gasped.

            "Okay, now to turn Loop into an Ash card… how do I do that again?"  
            "Not sure if you can." Pika-chan said. "But since you defeated it, it can't leave and has to listen to you for the time being."  
            "Cool!" Ash said. He and Charlotte both posed for Teresa, despite Charlotte's scowling. Then, they both quickly got out of the costumes.

            "But they're so cute!" Teresa said.

            Charlotte groaned. * Not to self. Kill Vulpix-chan. *

            She dressed in her slacks and t-shirt and sighed. * I am really going to kill Vulpix-chan. *

            Vulpix-chan purred.

            Charlotte glared at her.

            "MY CHOCOLATE!" Ash yelled, as Pika-chan ran away from him.

            "Mine now!"

            "Give those back!"

            "Why don't' you make me?"

            Ash glared. "Okay then… Caterpie, go! Use String Shot!"

            Pika-chan found herself all tied up. Ash triumphantly took his chocolates back… and then he promptly fainted from energy overdose.

            Pika-chan giggled and took off with them again.

End Episode 57! ^_^

Reviews are good! 

I don't think I should have bothered posting this at Pokemon Tower, nobody there reads this anyways. Oh well, it only lost 5 minutes of my time.

STUPID SATS! *Sobs* I did _so_ bad…


	18. Bob strikes again Dragon's Fury!

Episode 56! So, is the story to your satisfaction? Just to let you know, I'm putting some of the other fics on hold while I work on this monster.  
  


Disclaimer: SHADOW DOES NOT OWN POKEMON OR CARD CAPTOR SAKURA. However, Charlotte, Destiny, Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan, Eterneon, etc. belong to me and me alone. E-mail me if you want to borrow them.

Notes: ** indicates thoughts, indicates telepathy, and italics indicates pokemon speech. Yatta!

Ranma – thanks! ^_^. Actually, MQ was mentioned in the Star's Ascent arc once. But glitches are fun to play with.

Inami – Lance _does_ have the Sakura cards, plus the moon cards. Um… yes, Teresa likes Ash kind of like Tomoyo likes Sakura. But no, I'm not doing Ash/Charlotte because then I'd get flamed for Mary Sue-ness. But I know what you mean… *Sad eyes* Wish I could…

Eevee99 and Star – so what did you think of the fic itself?

Digifan – thank you! Comedy always rules!

Tmp – MQ was one of the glitch pokemon mentioned near the end of the Star's Ascent arc, one of the 'wild cards' in the Kanto card set. Um… Teresa is Teresa, go figure.

Silver#2 – yep, poor lil' Ash…

SnowTiger – yep! I don't think Pika-chan's ever given a stolen snack back, but… *Pika-chan hands you a chocolate*

Pikacar/Marle – I hate SATS… *Joins you with Charizard and Moltres to destroy the score sheets* Nope, Charlotte does _not_ like costumes. *Guardians eat brownies, then chase you… *

Severus' Potions Mistress – I think you're right. Poor Ash. I'm sure he was red.

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – sorry, can't co-host b/c I might get locked… and I've already been locked several times…

Fire Eevee – Mystery = good. Charlotte's hair is naturally wavy, but…

Episode 58: Bob strikes again – Dragon's Fury!

            "So what do I do now?" Lance asked as he switched off his interdimensional mirror. * This could get complicated… *

            I don't know. Do you think you can get Loop back? 

            Only when Ash changes the card combination required to travel across dimensions, or creates a card to cross dimensions easily. 

            Oh. 

            Maybe I should just send spirits instead of the cards. It's too risky. Lance said.

            That's probably a good idea. What are you using next? 

            Dash, probably, or something weaker than Loop. He needs a break. Besides, Bob the Dragon-Mage is about to make his move. 

            You don't like Bob, do you? 

            Of course not. Let me think, he's copying me, he's evil, he was the dark apprentice after all, and he's really annoying. 

            Ah. 

CP Dimension…

            "MWAHAHAHA! I have found you! You can't hide from me!"

            Charlotte and Ash both jumped away as a Hyper Beam hit the area they had been in mere seconds ago.

            "Release!" They shouted in unison. Teresa quickly dived into a bush. The bands of magic surrounded both as they grabbed their staffs and took up their positions, Charlotte on the right, Ash on the left side.

            "Espeon, I choose you!" Charlotte shouted.

            "Electabuzz!" Ash called, as light surrounded the pokemon card and it changed into an Ash card'. Both pokemon streaked towards Bob, who laughed and ordered his dragon to kill them.

            "Shield!" Charlotte said, as clear protective barrier sprung up in front of her. * Hmm… I don't think he can disrupt this one. *

            "Disruption!" Bob shouted, throwing the black card into the air. "Unbind!" This time, instead of reversing the attacks, the card literally unbound Espeon and Electabuzz, leaving two dazed-looking pokemon lying on the forest floor.

            "Flareon! Quick Attack!" Charlotte shouted. The pokemon nodded and rammed into Bob, knocking him over.

            "Butterfree, use Stun Spore!" Ash said, throwing out his pokemon. Butterfree nodded and spores began to drift from its antennae. Bob choked a bit, but quickly regained his bearings.

            "Disruption! Unbind again!" Bob shouted. But this time, there was no effect.

            He doesn't know they're pokemon! Pika-chan said in though-speak. That's why he's temporarily stunned. Attack him now! 

            Storm, use Hyper Beam! Ash said in telepathy. Storm materialized and charged up energy in its horn.

            Arcanine, use Fire Blast! Charlotte told her fire pokemon. And Flareon, use Fire Spin to immobilize him! The two fire-types nodded and began their own attacks.

            "I-Impossible!" Bob choked out. "Fine then! Daemon card! Go!"

            A horrific-looking mound of black smoke mixed with some strangely solid substance appeared in front of the two.

            "This does not look good." Pika-chan muttered.

            "Hahahaha! Daemon, attack them!"

            Ash and Charlotte both jumped out of the way again.

            "Don't think its safe to stay on the ground." Ash said. "Oh well, this is going to drain me… Destiny!"

            The lights surrounded him and he transformed.

            "Fly!" Charlotte said simply. A pair of wings rose from her shoulders and she flew after him.

            Bob laughed. "That's not going to do you any good!"

            "What do you mean?" Vulpix-chan asked. 

            As if in response, the Daemon sprouted wings itself and flew after the two Chosen. The guardians winced, but concentrated their attention back on their renewed battle with the dragon.

            Vulpix-chan and Pika-chan blasted it with Flaming Thunder, but absolutely nothing happened.

            "It's a fire-type. Let me try." Sabrina said, as she stepped forwards. "Summon Rain!" From the sky, drops began to fall, splattering all over the dragon and causing it to writhe in pain.

            "Great!" Angel said as he blasted it with a Light Ray attack.

            Sabrina followed up with a Psychic, while Pika-chan used Thunder and Vulpix-chan used Fire Blast.

            "Oh no!" Bob said, as his dragon finally fainted under the combined assault. He quickly put it into a little jeweled box. "Grr! Daemon card, get them!"

            "Ash?"  
            "What?" Ash asked as he evaded a swipe from the Daemon card. "Eep! Hey, watch it!" A few stray feathers drifted down.

            "I hate to interrupt." Charlotte said as she blasted the Daemon card with a bolt of fire. "But it's raining, and we have feathers."

            Ash gulped as the rain began to fall in torrents. "Um… what do we do now?"

            "I don't know." Charlotte said as they began to fall. The Daemon card didn't have a problem, since its wings were made of leathery skin.

            "Storm, I choose you!" Ash said. Storm popped out of her great ball and looked around, before nodding. Her horn glowed, and in an instant, the storm died down. Next, she fired an Ice Beam at the Daemon in an effort to immobilize its movements.

            "Daemon card, DESTRUCTION!" Bob shouted.

            Gray energy surrounded the card, and suddenly split and flew towards both Chosen. They really didn't have much time to react before it struck, so they were both blasted down to earth by the attack.

            Storm fired a Thunderwave at the Daemon, hoping to immobilize it, but nothing happened. As she furiously threw attack after attack at it, something inside her snapped and she began to glow with the light of evolution.

            Meanwhile, Vulpix-chan and Pika-chan managed to rescue the two collapsed trainers. They decided to let them rest for a bit, as Bob wasn't attacking anymore.

            When the light cleared, what stood there was _not_ a Dragonite. It looked like a Dragonair, only with two pairs of silver dragon's wings and four legs, with claws. A 'helmet' of wing-shaped scales covered its head, and its long body was covered with blue, silver, and gold scales.

            "Wow… Storm finally evolved." Pika-chan whispered.

            "Dragonami!" The new pokemon shrieked.

            "Dragon plus Tsunami." Angel said in a studious tone.

            Storm shrieked and threw all of her anger into a Dragon Rage attack, blowing the Daemon card out of the air.

            "Curse you! I'll be back!" Bob screeched, as he recalled his card, opened a porthole, and vanished.

            Dragonami landed next to Ash and nuzzled him. Ash's eyes fluttered open. "S-storm? You evolved?"

            Yes. A voice said in his head. Nice, isn't it. 

            Ash smiled. "I'm so happy." He would have said more, but than he fainted again.

            As night fell, the guardians finally revived their masters and began to set up camp. Teresa sighed happily and hugged her video camera.

            This could get problematic, master.   
            I know. I am trying to figure out some way around this. Lance said.

            You know that you have to go help them.   
            Yes, but not until the end.   
            It's the prophecy. Fire, Ice, Lightning, three in one... 

            It also involves Light, Darkness, and Shadow. 

            Yes, I know. 

            What can we do? Another voice chimed in.

            I'm trying to think, Aerodactyl. 

            really? 

            Yes! 

            So you're not just using the mirror to oogle the card captor? 

            AERODACTYL! 

            The sound of something breaking echoed through indigo plateau.

            Lorelei looked up. Please tell me that wasn't something expensive. 

            Don't worry, it wasn't. Dewgong said.

            Good. 

            It was one of the platforms. 

            DEWGONG! 

End Episode 56! Flames will be used to forge Windy – so she can strangle all those dubbers who don't care about pronunciation and stuff! 


	19. Practice makes perfect

Episode 59! Heh, Storm finally evolved! I know some people talked earlier about why she didn't evolve. Well, now you know.  
  


Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. Accuse me and I will disembowel you. Steal Destiny, Charlotte, or anything of mine and I will personally satirize your fic and flame you. It's known as asking permission.

Notes: indicates mental communication, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates pokespeech! Yeah!

Ranma – humor + action = good, Hehehehe. Thanks!

Inami – really? Well, yes, it was supposed to be serious, but humor is good too.

Pikacar/Marle – thanks! *Guardians eat cookies happily* Of course Dragonami is pretty! Why make an ugly pokemon if you can make a cute one?

Eevee Angel (Eevee99) – it's fine! Thanx for reviewing

Digifan – interesting, Ok.

Nikki Wind, Crystal Wind, and Abby the Absol – thank you!

Fire Eevee – hold on. Well, Lorelei is telepathic because she's an ice master and lapras and jynx are kind psychic, and Agatha is because she's a ghost master, but Bruno isn't.

Tmp – one thing at a time. Yes, lance is part of the Elite Four. Yep, Dragonami is one of my new pokes. I just threw in the part w/Lorelei for fun.

Severus' potions mistress – a platform is what the challenger and other trainer stand on, the stadium is between them.

Silver #2 – Um, Daemon card is a demon, and I wanted to spell it kind of ancient. So that's how I got it.

  
  


Episode 59: Practice makes perfect

            "Thundershock!"  
            The lightning streaked towards Ash, who barely managed to roll out of the way. "Fine! Earthquake!"

            Charlotte jumped clear of the attack and formed a ball of glowing energy in one hand. "Fireball!" The charged flame energy roared at Ash, who shrugged and negated it with a flap of his wings.

            "Pretty good!" Pika-chan called.

            "This is pretty intensive training." Teresa said as she taped. "What if Ash gets hurt?"

            "It won't happen. He's too good at dodging."

            "If you say so…" Teresa said worriedly. * Oh Ash, what's going to happen? Can't you see how you could get hurt? *

            Charlotte concentrated and suddenly flung an armful of somniferous powder at Ash. Ash blinked, but than began to fall asleep.

            Ash! Snap out of it! What if Bob uses this on us?!  You have to be prepared to defend against status change attacks! Charlotte yelled.

            Ash jerked awake, and quickly used a fire spell to incinerate the rest of the Sleep Powder.

            Hang in there, Ash! I know this is hard, but you can do it! Pika-chan told her chosen. Ash nodded before he formed something in his hands that Charlotte couldn't see. A pale blue glow winked in for a moment, before he shot his attack at her.

            "Bubblebeam!"  
            "Not bad!" Charlotte said as she quickly began dodging the bubbles. "Pin Missle!" Sharp pins of electricity began flying at the beams, bursting the bubbles easily.  Ash didn't move though. He seemed to be hiding a smirk…

            A few seconds later, all the remaining bubbles combined into one and smacked into Charlotte, knocking her out of the air and drenching her with gallons of water.

            Vulpix-chan quickly dashed over to her terrified Chosen and doused her with a dose of Hyper Potion.

            "Thanks, Vulpix-chan." Charlotte said as she stood up shakily. "Hey, that was really good, Ash!"

            Ash smiled and did a 'V' for Victory.

            Charlotte glowed as she used Recover, before standing up and shaking off all the excess water. "Okay, let's go!"

            Meanwhile…

            Bob growled as he dumped some Potions over himself. "I shall have my revenge! Foolish children, you know not the true power of Bob the Dragon-Mage! As soon as the rest of the shadows finish gathering, this world shall be mine! Mwahahaha!"

            Bob's dragon growled also.

            "Thunderbolt!"

            "Sorry, but that trick won't work twice!" Charlotte said as she dodged out of the way. Instantly, the electricity melted into bubbles of water.

            "Really?" Ash asked impishly. "Target!"

            "Eep!" Charlotte said as she jumped around. "Okay, Agility Swift!" Her form blurred as her speed went up immensely. * At this range, I can't miss… * A burst of acid shot out of her hands and landed on Ash's hair.

            Ash quickly doused himself with potion. * Wow, that was pretty close! I'd better try harder! *

            He concentrated and sent a ring of psychic energy at her.

            "Eh?" Charlotte asked as the ring tightened around her waist. "Oh… Tomite's trick! Okay, Teleport!" She vanished and reappeared behind Ash. A mallet formed of fire formed in her hand and she brought it down upon his head.

            Ash dropped like a rock.

            Pika-chan shook her head as she brought the Wand of the Water Guardian over. "Keep trying, Ash." Ash winced as she bonked him lightly.

            "But it's so hard!"

            "I know." Pika-chan replied. "But we have to work harder! There's something we didn't tell you earlier. The longer Bob stays alive, the harder it will be to defeat him."

            "Why?" Charlotte asked as she landed on the ground next to Ash.

            "Because Bob sold his soul to gain his magic. Day by day, demons, beings of darkness, shadowspawn, ghouls, etc, are gathering in his fortress. They are drawn by the dark power he possesses. If this continues, you will soon find yourselves dead or drained."

            "You're not very optimistic, are you?" Angel asked as he peered out of a leafy bough. 

            "Of course not." Pika-chan said derisively. "Come on, this is going to become a life or death situation soon! We should prepare them for it!"

            "In that case, shouldn't I be working on card transformations?" Ash asked a bit timidly.

            "Well… we're afraid that you'll be too drained to defend yourself." Sabrina said as she materialized out of thin air.

            Ash freaked out for a second before he realized it was just Sabrina.

            "Oh, it's only you. But I'll be okay!"

            "If you say so… we could do card training…" Charlotte said. "I could always create more… so could you…"

            The guardians held a quick whispered conference.

            "It's fine with us."

            "Costumes!" Teresa shouted.

            Ash just looked bemused as Charlotte bolted.

            Finally, Charlotte was dragged out of a bush. But instead of agreeing to Teresa's costumes, Charlotte pulled a gold star-shaped charm on a blue chain out of her pocket, pressed the button, and chanted a spell.

"Across the power of time, surpassing the power of distance, I summon thee Raikou, my mashin! Star of light, created by Raikou, Star of darkness, blessed by Seiryu, Star of hate, star of love, grant the power of the stars above!" When the light cleared, Charlotte was wearing golden armor over her normal school uniform.

"Is this good enough?"  
            Teresa stared. * Shoot! How did she get that? It's going to be so hard to make Ash a costume like that… Aaahh! *

Ash shrugged and his eyes glowed briefly. In a second, he was wearing his own gold armor and holding his staff. "Ready?"

"Hai!" Charlotte said, winking. "Okay, what can't we use?"

"No mind-control spells or Attract. Other than that, anything goes!"  
            The two Chosen grinned and took their positions. Teresa whipped out her camera, put in a blank tape, and began to tape.

End Episode 59! Flames will be used to forge Earthy, so she can engulf Nelvana in earth, or bury them a million miles underground! Comments and constructive criticism are very welcome! 

              
            


	20. in which some secrets are revealed

Episode 58! More training is ahead for Ash and Charlotte!

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo, Game FREAK, 4Kids, Shogakukan comics, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, etc. Destiny and Charlotte are mine, so are the new pokemon and attacks. Just in case you couldn't tell… *Wink*

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates translated and transcribed pokemon speech. 

Ranma – yep, right as always.

Pikacar/Marle – who knows? *Guardians eat treats happily* Gracias!  
Espeon Angel – I see you changed your name… oh well. ^_^

Tmp – Destiny naturally has armor, so Ash is just using it. Charlotte's power comes from two other fics I wrote, she can use lightning though.

Nikki Wind and Crystal Wind – aw… oh well, thanks for reviewing

SnowTiger – thank you! ^_^ Chants are something I'm ok at creating

Digifan – OK 

Fire Eevee – hi! You're right! *hugs* Mashin refers to the machines the magic knights control. So at one time, Charlotte had a Mashin named Raikou….

Episode 60: In which some secrets are revealed

            "Jolteon!" Charlotte said. 

            Ash countered with his own Jolteon card, which he had already changed. The two electric eevees faced each other and growled in unison. Charlotte's had slightly golden fur, while Ash's had a white star on its forehead.

            "Let's use Pin Missle!" Charlotte said. Her Jolteon nodded and began firing off the pins at its opponent. Charlotte moved in synch with her pokemon, evidently using the card-bond.

            Ash shrugged and vaulted out of the way, along with his Jolteon. "Double Team!" Copies of Jolteon filled the area.

            "Match Thunder!" Charlotte said. Instantly, the real Jolteon was lying on the ground with swirls for eyes.

            "That's amazing!" Ash said. "How did you do it?"

            "Trade secret. You'll learn it when your magic increase." Charlotte said pleasantly. "Now, how about switching."

            "Right!" Ash recalled Jolteon and switched to Diglett. 

            "Diglett, Earthquake!" Ash said, while at the same time casting an Extreemespeed spell on Diglett. Diglett easily blasted Jolteon into Charlotte, sending both of them flying.

            "Hey, you're not bad yourself." Charlotte said. Jolteon returned to card form and flew back into Charlotte's pocket. "Hmm… I choose Weedle!"

            Ash blinked.

            So did Teresa. "Is it just me, or that match skewed?"

            "Don't underestimate Charlotte." Angel said from his perch. "She uses this to her advantage often."

            "Okay, Diglett, use Earthquake again!"

            Weedle didn't move. But as the earthquake streaked towards it, it dug its horn into the earth. As soon as Diglett appeared Weedle jabbed its horn into Diglett's head, with a vicious Poison Sting. Diglett fell over almost immediately.

            Charlotte smiled.

            "Okay, then I'll use… Pidgey! Gust!"

            Both Weedle and Charlotte flew into a tree as the gale force winds buffeted at them. Charlotte recalled Weedle and pulled out another card.

            "Spearow, use Mirror Move!"

            Spearow popped out and began using its own Gust against Pidgey. This continued for about ten minutes before Spearow finally ran out of PP for Mirror Move.

            "In that case, Sky Attack!"  
            Ash looked nervous. "Sky attack? Oh shoot! Pidgey, use Whirlwind!" The glowing Spearow was blown away, but returned and slammed into Pidgey a few minutes later. 

            Pidgey fell out of the air, but righted itself and began using Wing Attack. Spearow countered with Drill Peck. Finally, both pokemon cards collapsed, exhausted. Ash and Charlotte also looked rather drained.

            "Break! We'll have lunch, too!" Pika-chan said. She hopped off to find the Fruit Basket, and soon the group was sitting on the ground and eating sandwiches and fruit together. Charlotte and Ash had already taken down their armor and everything so they looked like normal trainers.

            "Is there any way to beat Bob?" 

            "And even if we do beat him, what do we do then?" Ash asked.

            "I believe that Clow left behind a magical artifact which he used to bind Bob last time. It was known as the Onyx Seal." Sabrina stated as she floated a few feet away and waved off the sandwich Vulpix-chan offered. "The only problem is that even if we find it – and it's hidden really well – we still have to repair it."  
            "The Onyx Seal…" Charlotte thought hard. "Hmm… well, here on Cosmos Island, one of the gyms is located in Onyx city, the last gym, that gives out the Pluto badge… could it be there?"

            "Quite possibly." Pika-chan chirped.

            Angel didn't say anything as he chomped on his tuna fish sandwich.

            "But if we go to the cities, wouldn't Bob attack us there? What if people get hurt?" Ash questioned.

            Charlotte shook her head. "We'll have to take the risk. No choice here. Either way, people will get hurt. But at least we have a chance if we get the Onyx Seal."

            Pika-chan looked at Ash somberly. "I'm afraid now that we have a chance, we have to take it."

            Ash would have said more, but he suddenly went still as his eyes briefly changed color from their warm brown color to a glowing gold. "I understand." He whispered. * As Destiny, I have responsibilities, and I cannot shirk them. *

            "Shall we go, then?" Sabrina asked.

            "Yes. Let's Teleport." Charlotte said. Ash nodded as his eyes glowed white. * Might as well improve my teleportation skills… Teleport! * They wound up, amazingly, on the roof of the Onyx city pokemon center.

            "Great job, Ash!"  
            "Thanks." Ash said, blushing a bit at the praise. 

            "There's just one problem… the only way to get into the Pluto gym is if you challenge the leader. She's paranoid."

            "What's so hard about that?"  
            "Almost nobody knows what she looks like…"

            Ash sweatdropped. "But you know, right? I mean you battled her, didn't you?"  
            Charlotte closed her eyes. "Yes. I did. She has _long_ black hair, I remember, and chalk-white skin. Plus she always wears ruby earrings."  
            "In that case, let's split up and start looking!"

            Charlotte smiled, bemused, as Ash dashed off. When he was gone, she and Vulpix-chan headed in a different direction and soon ended up in an alley. Pressing the fourth black brick on the wall revealed a secret passage, which slid open. Charlotte jumped in.

            Selena jerked up. "Um… is it time for monthly reports yet?" She asked nervously. * AHH! I thought she wouldn't visit, since last time my Gastly destroyed her new cloak… shoot… I am in for it now… it's not everyday that the Champion shows up on your doorstep! *

            "Actually, they were due two days ago…" Charlotte said with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

            "I'm sorry! But I was so busy trying to fix my gym after a battle with this kid's Electrode…"  
            "Save your excuses." Charlotte said. "I'll waive it this time if you do me a favor."  
            "What?"  
            "I want you to battle my cousin. And I don't want you to tell him that I'm the Champion."  
            "You want me to issue a surprise battle? I can arrange that." Selena said. "What does he look like?"

            Charlotte gave her a description of Ash. Selena nodded, grabbed her poke belt and jacket, and went off to find him. Charlotte's eyes glowed and she teleported out, along with her guardian.

            "Could it be here?" Vulpix-chan asked.

            "That's what I was going to ask you."  
            Angel stretched. "Perhaps. We do feel slight tinges of his aura, after all."

            "Of course, let's just hope it is not a public monument or something like that."

            "That would be really bad."

            "Where is she?" Ash asked as he looked around. Just then, he bumped into a girl with shiny black hair in a black jacket. "Hey, are you Selena?"  
            "Yes." Selena said.

            "Cool! I challenge you to a battle for the Pluto Badge!"

            "Fine by me." Selena said. "Since you actually managed to find me, I'll oblige you. This will be a three on three battle for the Pluto Badge!"

            Pika-chan yawned and ate cookies. * Hey, we're actually getting somewhere. Cool! *

            "Mysdreavus, I choose you!"

            "Sunny, let's go!" Ash said. Sunny smiled and popped out. She stretched and turned to face her opponent.

            "Mysdreavus, use Night Shade!" Selena called.

            "Sunny, use Bite!" Sunny nodded and chomped on the ghost pokemon, which squeaked and tried to get away.

            "Use Psybeam, Mysdreavus!"

            "Sunny, use Reflect and then Thunderbolt!" Sunny nodded as the psybeam bounced off her shield, and a Thunderbolt crashed into Mysdreavus, sapping the last of its HP.

            "Hey, not bad. Mysdreavus, return!" Selena said with a smile. "Okay… Selena chooses Noctowl!"

            "Sunny, just use Match Thunder!" Sunny nodded and the attack easily downed Noctowl. 

            "Ready to give up yet?" Ash asked.

            Selena smirked and withdrew her last poke ball. "Serebii, I choose you!"

            Sunny gulped. Ash noticed this and recalled her. "Hmm… Serebii is a grass/psychic type, so I guess I'll use… Flareon! Go!"

            Flareon appeared and yawned, spitting flames everywhere. 

            "Serebii, use Ancient Power!" A pile of rocks appeared in midair and all crashed down on the poor Flareon.

            "Flareon, don't panic! Use Fire Spin!" Flareon nodded and ringed Serebii in a wall of flame. Serebii was burnt.

            "Heal Bell." Selena commanded. Her Serebii nodded and began to glow green, healing itself.

            "Flamethrower!" Ash called. Another blast of fire streaked towards Serebii, which panicked and began to fall.

            "Quick, use Confusion!" Flareon got little swirls for eyes and shook itself.

            Ash quickly sprayed it with a Full Heal. "Flareon, one more good attack should take it out. Bite!"

            Flareon nodded and bit into Serebii, which shrieked before it fainted. 

            "Not bad!" Selena said. She tossed him the Pluto Badge and some money, before vanishing in a wisp of smoke.

            Ash shrugged and decided to search for the Onyx Seal. He recalled his pokemon and began looking around.

End Episode 58! Flames will be used to create Little so she can shrink Nelvana. That way, they'll be crushed like ants! Mwahahaha! 

More reviews = faster updating…


	21. we're doing all this just for a seal!

Episode 61 of CCA! Yeah! Shadow cheers and dances.

Disclaimer: *Holds up a glowing sword* I don't own pokemon. I'm only saying it once. If you accuse me of stealing it, I will slowly and painfully kill you. Oh yeah, Destiny, Charlotte, etc. are mine. You know what I do own and what I don't own, don't you?

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates translated pokemon speech. That's all you need to know! *Grins*

Timeline: Two days later

Espeon Angel – actually, the info about Charlotte is just an explanation on why she can get Ash into gyms and stuff…however, I think their role will be a bit expanded.

Tmp – yes, I guess you could say she was lying, although Selene _does_ have many forms, however Charlotte recognizes her…

Ranma – patience is good, secrets are good too

The pokemon reader – glad you liked it!

Pikacar/Marle – lil' Ash, ^_^ *guardians are digging into cake happily, Angel looks on a bit complacently, Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan are fighting over a piece, Sabrina is just watching, and in the background you see a few shadowy figures*

Digifan – yes, I like Ash getting the badge. Better than *shudder* some of the anime. Not all of the anime is bad, mind you, but a great many fillers could have been taken out.

Episode 61: We're doing all of this just for a Seal?!

            "Let's see. We've already checked the library, most of the public buildings, and a few people's houses." Ash said. "And still no sign of the Onyx Seal."

            "Do you think it might be in someone's house?" Charlotte asked as she scanned another building with her Magic Scope.

            "Might be." Vulpix-chan admitted. "It could be anywhere. It might not even be in Onyx city."

            "Great." Both Chosen muttered.

            Suddenly, the Magic Scope began to beep frantically as a pink glow suffused it. 

            "Hey, it picked up Clow's aura!"

            "Maybe the Seal really is close by!" Pika-chan said ecstatically.

            "Don't be too sure." Angel said as he stretched and ruffled out his wings. "But we might as well go see what the disturbance is."  
            Teresa followed, still taping. The two card masters looked at each other and developed identical sweat drops.

            Soon, they followed the beeping to the back of an enormous house.

            "Shoot." Ash said. "Could it be in there?"

            "Looks like someone rich is living here. They could have picked up the Onyx Seal at an auction or something. After all, if they're so wealthy…" Pika-chan trailed off as the others stared at the house in disbelief.

            "Look at all the guards! We'll never get inside."  
            "And there are ghost pokemon inside!" Ash added. "I saw them with the Silph Scope!"  
            "Plus, I think there's an electric fence." 

            "What do we do?"

            The guardians quickly conversed for a while, before they decided on a strategy. "We'll have to sneak in."  
            "That's not the only problem." Angel added. "Whoever lives here is a protective freak, because they have wards up to prevent thieves."  
            "Don't wards block magic?" Ash asked.

            "Yes. If you use the cards, they'll still work, but…"  
            "Charizard would only be as strong as a Charmeleon, and if you used something like Smog, it would only cover part of the house."  
            "We don't really have a choice here though." Ash said.

            "Yeah. We have to get that seal if we want to defeat Bob!" Charlotte added.

            "I guess we'll be sneaking in tonight." Vulpix-chan said. "Get lots of rest, you guys, because you'll need it."  
            "Ash, don't overstress yourself!" Pika-chan added. 

            The two nodded and went off to prepare.

            That night…

            Ash was dressed in a black ninja costume (think Koga's from Pokemon Adventure), with dark blue and silver gauntlets. A black mask covered part of his face. His poke balls hung from a double-looped belt of braided silver. He wasn't wearing gloves, but his boots were black as well, and a short cloak hung from his shoulders, attached to the silver and blue armor he was wearing.

            Charlotte wore black pants and a black coat that flared out past her hips. Her gauntlets were red and gold, and her belt was a single-stranded gold leaf creation. She didn't have a cloak, but her face was partially obscured by a black mask as well.

            Teresa squealed and pulled out her camera. "You two look so kawaii! I really outdid myself this time!"

            "Let's go." Ash said, ignoring her.

            "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true from before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!"

            "Key that hides the power of sunlight, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Charlotte commandeth you, Release!" 

            The two grabbed their respective weapons and got ready.

            "First, we disable this electric fence." Ash said. Pika-chan shrugged and short-circuited it. Amazingly, no alarms went off.

            "I'll take care of the ghost pokemon." Angel said. His eyes turned golden and several scattered telepathic cries were heard.

            Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan gave them thumbs up before scampering off to their 'cover' positions.

            Good luck! Vulpix-chan yelled. 

            Remember, you have to use the powerful cards, but you also have to be very quiet! Pika-chan added.

            Angel and Sabrina also took their positions. Angel flew to the roof to keep watch, while Sabrina took the garden.

            Good luck. Sabrina said. You'll need it. 

            Teresa followed, still taping.

            "Shadow." Charlotte commanded. From one of her cards, a smoky form of a vague form in a black robe with a hood, held in place by a silver sun-shaped clasp, emerged.

            "Cloak us in darkness, please." The figure nodded and wreathed both in wisps of darkness. Teresa shivered a bit as it included her as well.

            "How will we see?" Ash asked.

            "Hmm… don't you have the pokemon cards? Think of something." Charlotte said as she doubled over for a few minutes. * Wow, that was energy draining for a simple card… wait… it's night, so my magic is really weak… *

            Ash looked a bit worried. "Well, it's worth a try. Zubat." The card took on its new form and whirred in front of them, wings beating in the dark as it sent off its echolocation bursts in different directions.

            "Good idea." Teresa said approvingly. *Grr… who does she think she is, ordering Ash around? *

            Charlotte caught the stray end of Teresa's thoughts and frowned imperceptibly, but she didn't say anything as her eyes lit up as two golden pinpoints of light, enabling her to see in the darkness.

            "Let's go."

            After a while, there was still no sign. Ash's key chant hadn't worked, but neither had Charlotte's Magic Scope, which was perplexing, since with two magic detectors at least _one_ should have pinpointed the object of interest. Teresa hadn't found anything worthwhile either.

            "Could it be a seal?" Ash asked.

            "Maybe…" Charlotte said. "But if that were the case, we would just look for an aura-less object. Right?"  
            Ash nodded. "Do you have Itemscope? It's risky, but it might work."

            "No. Do you?"

            Ash shook his head and sighed. Suddenly, Charlotte thought of something. "Ash, that's it! They might be hiding the object inside something else which would block out the magic signature!"

            "Cool!" Ash said. "So how do we get it?" * and why is this house empty? Did Pika-chan already clear out all the inhabitants? *

            "Ghost types can pass through walls, remember?"  
            "Right!" Ash said as he took out a card. "Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release!" The Gengar card turned white and a pair of silver bracelets appeared on his arms. 

            "Gengar, can you please find the Onyx Seal?" Ash asked. Gengar nodded and started floating through walls and peeking at items. Charlotte sent out her Mysdreavus to help also.

            After 3 hours…

            I've found it. Gengar said confidently.

            Really? Where? Ash asked excitedly.

            It's in this room full of mechanical apparatus, next to some test tubes.   
            Okay! Let's go! Ash said as he teleported them in. Charlotte had warned him that her teleportation skills, to put it mildly, sucked.

            They landed.

            "Is that it?" Ash asked, pointing to the glowing black circle covered with golden symbols that hung against the wall. 

            "I think so."

            "Wow…" Teresa said as she focused her camera to get a good look at it. "So this is the legendary Onyx Seal."  
            "Let's go." Ash said as he grabbed it off the wall.

            Charlotte nodded as they began heading for the nearest exit. 

            Teresa kept taping. * For some reason, this seems too peaceful… is something going to happen? *

            They made it outside without incident, though.

            "We've got it." Ash told Sabrina, who was the closest one. "Tell the others they can leave."  
            Sabrina nodded and sent the telepathic call out to all the other guardians. The entire group met in a park.

            "Great job, you two!" Pika-chan said happily. "You make a great team!"  
            Teresa frowned. * No, I'm NOT jealous! Really! * However, she couldn't quash her jealousy that easily.

            "You're great, Charlotte!" Vulpix-chan said as her Chosen brushed out her mussed fur with a fine-toothed, heat-resistant comb. 

            "How did you get so scruffy, Vulpix-chan?"

            "Oh, I had to chase a lot of wild pokémon off." Vulpix said. 

            "I see."

            Ash yawned. "I'm tired…"

            "Probably just feeling the energy drain." Pika-chan said. "Let's go back to the center and get some much-needed rest."

            "Sounds good to me." Ash said. 

            Charlotte and Vulpix-chan merely nodded, and Teresa had no choice in this matter anyways.

            So they headed back to the center.

End Episode 61! *Does cartwheels happily* so, what do you think? Drop me a review! C&CC much accepted. Flames will be used to summon Yue, so he can get rid of Nelvana for me!   
  


Poll: Every character needs a few flaws. For a new trainer fic I'm writing, I need some so she won't be a Mary Sue

Example: Charlotte's flaws/weakness: hydrophobia, no direction sense, magic gets weak when the sun goes down, etc.

Vote please

And remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I update.

  
  



	22. Fire, fire, burning bright

Episode 62! *Cheers*

Disclaimer: If shadow owned pokemon, she would be filthy rich and this would be a published work right now. Since this is fanfiction and I'm not being paid for it, you can assume that I do not own pokemon.

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates translated pokemon speech. 

Note: This can be called one of the 'explanation episodes'... a.k.a., if I don't show Ash changing a card, it may be implied that it was changed during this time.

Ranma – Don't worry, there _is_ a reason for Teresa's jealousy, which will be shown shortly…besides, there is no way Charlotte and Ash are in a relationship of the romantic sort. More like the older sister/younger brother relationship

Pikacar/Marle – the seal itself is not that important, but… more shall be revealed soon! *Sobs, 3 weeks of school left* *guardians eat happily*

Digifan – and the suspense is building…

Tmp – if it was easy now, it'll just be harder later. Um, nobody worries about Lance-chan since they don't really know she's existing and watching. New trainer, um, well, she's from my RPG…

The Insane Vulpix – I see you changed your name again, Eevee. *Nods at friend*

Yanasha – well, that's interesting… thanks.

Timeline: 9 days later…

Episode 62: Fire, fire, burning bright

            "Bob hasn't shown up yet." Teresa said. * I really don't mind, but Ash is so agitated! It almost makes me wish he would attack. *

            "That's disturbing." Ash said as he used telekinesis to move pieces on a game board around. "Check."

            "Tell me about it." Charlotte said. Her eyes were an angry blue. She moved her bishop out and captured his knight, ending the check.

            Ash didn't say anything. * At least the past several days gave me the time and energy needed to charge some more pokemon cards… *

            "Don't worry!" Pika-chan said. * Well, I'm worried, but he shouldn't be… *

            Ash sighed. * Pika-chan keeps reassuring us, but… I'm still worried. She told us that he grows stronger as time passes. That's bad! What will we do? *

            Meanwhile…

            Bob laughed as he took out his weapons. "Come along, Dragon! We will now show those puny weaklings the true might of the Dragon-Mage!" His dragon growled and followed him. Bob laughed hysterically to himself as he left his dark lair to begin his quest for revenge.

            "You know, Ash, maybe we should head to a different city so you can get another badge. You want to compete in the Cosmos League, don't you?"  
            "Yep!" Ash said, glad to be diverted from the dark subject.

            "Why don't I fly us to Ruby City? Then, you can try for the Mars badge."  
            "Sounds good to me!" Ash said. "Let's go!" He quickly put away the chess set they had been playing with and was packed in an instant.

            "Why not?" Vulpix-chan said, wagging her six tails. "A change of atmosphere would be good. It's so gloomy here in Onyx city…"

            "Everything's so black." Pika-chan added. * Ugh. *

            "Everybody ready?" Charlotte asked five minutes later. "Pidgeot, I choose you! Let's Fly!" The bird pokemon materialized and Ash and Teresa both climbed on after Charlotte. Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan, and Angel flew alongside them as they headed for Ruby City.

            Ash and Charlotte talked in telepathy as they flew. Teresa gritted her teeth. * I hate her. I don't know why, but I do. It's just not fair. I have magic of my own too! Why won't Ash ever notice me? Okay, so she's older, but that's it! *

            "We're here!" Charlotte called about ten minutes later. 

            "AAAHHH! It's so red!" Ash said, as he quickly pulled a pair of sunglasses over his eyes to shield them from the reflective red glare.

            "Why do you think it's called Ruby City?" Vulpix-chan asked dryly as she fluttered over. "Or did you forget that all of the major cities on Cosmos Island were color-themed?"

            Ash sighed. * Okay, I can deal with this. I'll just keep my sunglasses on the whole time, and I'll be fine. * "Where's the gym?"  
            "This way." Charlotte said, leading him towards a building. "Oh, just a warning. This gym leader is kind of stuck up, I'm just warning you."

            "Great." Ash muttered. "Another Gary act-alike."  
            "Costume?" Teresa asked hopefully.

            "Okay. Fine." Ash finally said after Pika-chan yelled at him in telepathy for a good six minutes.

            "Yay!" Teresa said as she dragged him over to a public restroom. "Here you go!" She piled some bright cloth in his arms and skipped off.

            Ash sighed, but went to change. Charlotte smiled, glad _she_ didn't have to wear one this time.

            When Ash emerged, he wore a red tank top and red silk pantaloons, embroidered with leaping flames in gold thread. He also had a braided golden belt with a gigantic red gem in the middle, with two little loops of gold hanging off. On his forearms he wore the golden strength bracers that Sunny had give him a while ago, and they glowed brightly. From his shoulders hung a cape of scarlet cloth, plain and serviceable, which contrasted with the glittering finery he wore underneath. His sneakers had been replaced with golden curved slippers (Think Aladdin), and his hair had been temporarily dyed with a fiery orangey-red dye.

            Charlotte clapped. "You look very nice, Ash." She said.

            "Thanks!" Ash said brightly. "Let's go to the gym now!"

            Charlotte nodded and in a few minutes, they had reached the front of a gym, built to resemble a volcano. 

            Teresa followed behind. * He didn't even thank me… * She thought, disappointed. * Why? *

            "Rachel, I challenge you for the Mars badge!" Ash said.

            A girl with shoulder length black hair that had red streaks dyed into it stood up. "All right! I accept your challenge!" She jumped down from her platform where she had been drinking tea and landed in front of Ash. "What type of match do you want?"  
            "How about two on two?" Ash asked.

            "Fine by me." Rachel said as she pulled out her first pokemon. "Rachel chooses – Charmeleon!"

            Ash quickly thought through all his available options, before deciding on one. "Vaporeon, I choose you!"  
            Vaporeon materialized in a spray of foam and managed to look dignified yet fierce at the same time as she faced the Charmeleon.

            "Fire Spin!" Rachel called. "Immobilize it!"

            Vaporeon dodged out of the way, before striking Charmeleon with Bubblebeam. Her eyes looked angry as the bubblebeam connected with the Charmeleon's tail flame, knocking it out.

            What's wrong? Ash asked.

            I just hate Charmeleons. Vaporeon growled. Don't ask me about it yet. I haven't come to terms with the problem myself. Ash nodded and watched as Rachel recalled her fallen Charmeleon and reached for a different poke ball.

            "Cyndaquil, I choose you!"

            Ash blinked and pulled out his pokédex. (He is not wearing his AIPL because he is in costume.)

            "No data recorded." Dexter beeped.

            "Oh well." Ash said. "I suppose I'll just try my luck. Vaporeon, use Water Gun!" Vaporeon immediately shot a stream of water at the unfortunate porcupine.

            "Cyndaquil, Dig!" Rachel said. Her pokemon dived underground as soon as the water came close.

            "Vaporeon, shield yourself in Acid Armor." Vaporeon nodded and made herself invisible, so when the Cyndaquil popped out of the ground several seconds later, it could not locate its opponent.

            Now! 

            Vaporeon grinned wolfishly and fired off another Bubblebeam at Cyndaquil. Unfortunately, Rachel had pretty sharp eyes and she noticed this.

            "Cyndaquil, use Quick Attack!" Cyndaquil launched itself at Vaporeon and rammed into its side, disrupting its Bubblebeam attack, before covering Vaporeon with the poison from its Toxic attack.

            Vaporeon choked and started trying to get the poison off. 

            "Vaporeon, return!" Ash said, not wanting it to get hurt from poison. "Hmm… how about… Pidgey, I choose you! Use Mud-Slap!"

            Pidgey appeared and slapped mud into Cyndaquil's eyes so it couldn't see. Cyndaquil ran around in circles, trying to hit the little bird, but not succeeding.

            "Shoot! Use Flame Wheel!" Rachel called.

            "Gust!" This attack drained away some more of Cyndaquil's HP. However, Pidgey was hit by Flame Wheel, which was pretty accurate, so she also took some damage. 

            "Don't give up, Pidgey! Finish it off with Wing Attack!" Pidgey nodded and dived in close, flipping Cyndaquil over onto its back so its soft belly was unprotected, and slapping it with a wing. Cyndaquil decided that it had had enough and fainted.

            "Hey, you're pretty good." Rachel said as she gave Ash the money and TM#77, Flame Wheel.

            "You're not bad yourself. I just had type advantage." Ash said modestly. 

Teresa growled. * Great, now he's hitting on someone else! *

            Ash didn't notice Teresa's anger.

            "Let's go!" He said, as he dashed off. He gave Vaporeon a Psncureberry. Vaporeon ate the berry and instantly shrugged of the effects of Toxic. Ash gave her a Super Potion as well.

            "Want to go to Emerald City next?"

            "Yep, I could use some green after all this redness." Ash said as they walked to the outskirts of Ruby City.

            "I'm sorry, but this trip will have to be cancelled." A vaguely familiar voice said. Ash instantly went for his key. "Bob." He hissed.

            "Quite right." Bob said as he appeared. "Glad that you noticed me. Now prepare to die!"

End Episode 62! Ooh, a cliffhanger! Review or you know what'll happen! C&CC accepted, flames would be used to forge Mist to surround Nelvana and make them disappear so they won't dub anymore!

. I notice that my number of reviews has deceased by almost 50% per chapter, this does not make me happy… that's why it took me 7 days to update.

Poll results!

SHADOW SUCKS AT WRITING AAMRN! *Cheers* I'll never write it again! *smiles brightly* Championshipping 4ever!


	23. You’d think that a magical artifact woul...

Hi! *Shadow waves to her reviewers*

Disclaimer: By now you should have figured out that shadow does not own pokemon, but just in case you haven't, I'll say it right now. SHADOW DOES NOT OWN POKEMON! It belongs to Nintendo, Game FREAK, 4Kids, Shogakukan comics (yay!), etc.

Notes: Italics indicates pokemon speech that has been translated into English for the benefit of the readers, indicates telepathy a.k.a. thought-speak, and ** indicates a person's innermost thoughts and musings.

Ranma – hai, hai. Just kick some other people into reviewing and I'll update faster.

The Insane Vulpix – I can tell…

Tmp – well, that might be explained later. Pidgey is a magic-type pokemon; remember? _very_ powerful. If it's a pokemon card I will usually mention it. AIPL = advanced identification pokemon locator. He got it from Giovanni about 20 episodes ago. Teresa's crush _will_ be explained in 2 episodes, be patient!

Digifan – Cliffhanger! Hahahahahaha

So, I only get 4 reviews? Okay, wait another week before I update then.

Episode 63: You'd think that a magical artifact would be pretty sturdy…

            "RELEASE!" Ash said, grabbing his staff. "All right, what do you want?"  
            Beside him, Charlotte withdrew her own staff and took a fighting stance. The sharp dagger-like tip at the bottom of hers glinted in the noonday sun.

            "Why, I'm simply going to do something that's very inimical to your health." Bob said calmly as he withdrew his Daemon card. "Prepare to die!"

            Ash jumped out of the way of his first blast of dark energy. "Raichu, Thunderwave!" He shouted, changing another card. Raichu instantly shot a paralyzing bolt of electricity at Bob, but his dragon jumped in front of him. At least the Thunderwave put the dragon out of commission temporarily.

            "Die!" Bob shrieked, releasing the Daemon card. Pika-chan's eyes widened as she identified it. * Oh no! Not the Daemon card again! Even Clow had trouble with that one! And Disruption was bad enough! *

            "Not likely!" Charlotte shot back. "Moltres!" The flaming chicken charged at Bob, nailing one of his legs. Bob replied with a huge wave of water.

            Moltres vanished. Charlotte froze as the water rushed towards her. Ash quickly used some wind energy to grab her out of the way. Seeing as she was still in shock, he decided that he most likely had to do the rest by himself.

            "I'll protect her!" Vulpix-chan said as she transformed into her Ninetails form. Ash nodded and pulled out another pokemon card, one he had already changed. "Snorlax, Slam him!" Snorlax nodded and charged at Bob in a grumpy rage.

            However, the Daemon card chose this time to attack, blasting Snorlax back into card form in the blink of an eye.

            "How do you like my new trick?" Bob asked, as he began to laugh. "I made a pact with this creature, and it became my card. Pretty useful, huh?"

            Ash growled and through out another card. "Poliwhirl, go! Hypnosis and put that monstrosity to sleep!" Poliwhirl immediately began sending out sleep waves at the Daemon card, but it just brushed the attack off.

            A burst of fireballs headed for Ash, who quickly shielded himself with a quick muttered charm. * This is bad… *

            Teresa kept taping.

            Just then, Charlotte woke up. Vulpix had flamed her with a Fire Blast, so it was to be expected. Feeling a bit better, Charlotte stood up and threw out one of her own cards. "Persian, go! Screech!"  
            Persian materialized and let off a high-pitched screech, but it only made Bob angry. "So you're the other one. I can still defeat both of you." And with that, he sent a wave of ice spears at her.

            "Jump!" Charlotte shouted, getting out of the way. "Try this then. Heaven's Glow!" From her hands, a white light formed and shot towards the Daemon card, which staggered a bit, but retaliated with a huge ball of shadow energy.

            "Shield!" Charlotte barely managed to bring up her energy barrier. * Darn, if this continues, Ash and I will definitely lose! *

            We have to work together! Ash said.

            I know! But do you know any combination attacks? 

            No, but if we use two compatible elements, it should be okay, right? 

            I hope so… I'll use fire. 

            Okay! And I'll use electric. Ash said as he powered up his magic. 

            "Ready to give up?" Bob taunted. * Those fools! Mere children hope to defeat me? Those idiots! *

            "Not yet!" Ash said as he formed shards of lightning, fiercely sparking, in his palms. "We don't die that easily!"

            "Don't underestimate the power of the light!" Charlotte said. Her hands glowed with leaping flames, winding all over her body.

            Bob laughed. "Daemon card, finish them off!"  
            "Not yet!" Ash hissed as he drew his arm back and hurled his attack at Bob. "LIGHTNING DESTRUCTION!"

            "Flames of Rage!" Charlotte added, her fire attack mixing with Ash's and creating a truly terrible elemental storm. Bob was caught off guard and hit with the full brunt of the attack.

            "Now!" Pika-chan said. Ash nodded and pulled out the Onyx seal. He and Charlotte each took one side and flung it at Bob, who shrieked.

            "NOOO! I won't allow it! Disruption!" The card managed to deflect most of the power, allowing Bob time to escape. Ash tried to get out of the way, but because of those slippers that Teresa had given him, was unable to move and was hit, making him feel very fuzzy. 

            The two Chosen cursed.

            "We were so close!" Ash said. He rubbed his head and wished for the pounding inside to go away.

            "I know." Charlotte muttered. "But look at what happened to the Onyx Seal when the Disruption card hit it."  
            "Great." Ash muttered. "It's torn down the middle. Does that mean it won't work now?" He rubbed his sore noggin, annoyed.

            "I think so. We will have to go through a complex magic ceremony to repair it." Pika-chan said as she floated down to comfort her Chosen.

            Vulpix-chan licked Charlotte's cheek in an effort to cheer her up. Charlotte sighed and petted Vulpix-chan on the head.

            "At least we managed to hurt him, right?" Teresa asked in a feeble attempt to raise everyone's spirits. She received several heated glares.

            Teresa wilted. * I was just trying to help… *

            Pika-chan handed Ash the Wand of the Water Guardian, which he used to heal himself. 

            Bob's realm/lair…

            "This is interesting." Bob said as he watched. "Perhaps that girl will be the link I need to destroy them."

            His dragon climbed out of the pool of healing fluid that Bob had sunk in a corner. It looked healed now, but Bob knew better than that. It would take several days for the dragon to recover, and Bob himself need much rest before he could attack again. His forbidden cards hissed from their Black Book.

            "Don't worry, my darlings." Bob said as a smile twisted his physiognomy into a visage of evil. "We shall have our revenge!"

            Cackles and maniacal laughter filled the area.

            The original Pokéverse…

            "Looks like he won't be coming back for a while." Lance said as he stroked his Dragonair's shiny scales.

            Yep. He's still very busy. Dragonair said. I think getting home is the last thing on his mind right now, strange to say. 

            Time passes more slowly here than there. In fact, almost no time at all has passed here. 

            What? But I thought…   
            When he returns, it will be as if he never left. 

            Oh, I see. 

            Eriol's place…

            "How can Bob get rid of the Onyx Seal so easily?!" Spinel demanded as he flew around in circles. "What do we do now!?"

            "Relax, Spinel!" Eriol said. "Besides, it wasn't even fully repaired when they used it, remember?"

            "But Bob is free now!"

            "I know that if the two trainers combine their powers, they will triumph over Bob. I have seen it." Eriol said.

            "You sure?"

            "Yes. Only it will be very difficult…"

            "Oh. So this is another test?"

            "Very observant, Spinel."

            CP Universe…

            "What? We need a full moon?" Ash asked. "But tonight's the new moon… so that's at least a week and a half away!"

            "No choice." Pika-chan said. "This seal was forged with moon-based magic, so we need the power of the moon to repair it."

            "Sunlight won't work?" Charlotte asked.

            "No. Starlight will not work either, Ash." Vulpix-chan said, seeing that Ash was about to ask the question.

            "Can I help?" Teresa asked in a small voice.

            "No. I'm sorry." Angel said in a dignified, scholarly tone. "But we need only active participants at this ceremony."  
            "I can't tape?!"  
            "No."

            Teresa looked shocked. "B-but…."  
            There was no reply.

End Episode 63! *Smirks* what do you think? Drop me a review! Flames will be used to forge Erase, to erase Nelvana! Mwahahaha! 

Remember, at least 7 reviews needed for me to update… I am seriously lowering my standards here…

POLL: What hair color should a new trainer have?

A.) Dark Red

B.) Light Blue

C.) Black

D.) Blonde of course!

E.) Silver

F.) Another color, please tell me

Just one last note,I put up 'Looped', the story about Ash and Red switching places.

              
            


	24. Green is the color of

Episode 62! Wow, I've gotten so far since I started writing this series!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON. Is there anything else that needs to be said?

Notes: ** indicates thoughts, indicates thought-speak, and italics indicates (What else?) Translated pokemon speech!

Timeline: 2 days later…

Ranma – well, you know me. I don't think there is ever an easy way….

Guy – thanx for all the nice reviews! ^_^ 1.) In chapter 6, the italics were the stars talking to Ash. 2.) TR kind of had to win for the plot to work, some outside interference. 3.) Angel is the second guardian of Charlotte's sun card set. 4.) In the later chapters, the identity of the evil one shall be revealed. 5.) Charlotte needs some weaknesses, so I chose hydrophobia and the weakness when the sun sets. 6.) Yes, she is the Cosmos League Champion like Lance is the Johto league champion. 7.) Black w/dark blue I will think about. And on the subject of Teresa's riches, I mentioned that Todd was very wealthy in one of the early episodes of Star's Ascent.

Pyrogirl123 – raven black? I'll think about it

Rowena – I'll check it out, light blue? Hmm… that might work.

Tmp – it has everything to do with the prophecy. That's part of their raw power. Wow, you were psychic, I was thinking of black w/red highlights… anyways, I wish I could leave Teresa behind but she _does_ have a part to play, maybe Charlotte can meet Ash in the future when she travels to his world.

The Pokemon Reader – So two trainers? Red and blue? I sense perhaps a rivalry…

Fire Eevee – ok, apology accepted.

B-chan and C-chan – wait, you want silver hair and purple eyes? But isn't that kind of redundant… oh well, I'll consider it.

Digifan – thanx! ^_^

Silver #2 – black? Hmmm…

Would have put this fic up earlier if ff.net had been up and running…

Episode 64: Green is the color of…

            "We're here!" Charlotte said as Pidgeot landed in the grassy green paradise known as Emerald City. "Okay, everybody off!"

            Ash hopped off Pidgeot easily, even doing a midair flip so he landed on his feet. He stretched. "Wow, that was a pretty quick flight."

            "Well, Pidgeot flies at speeds of Mach 5."

            Teresa rubbed her sore arms. * Isn't there a quicker way to travel? Oh well, at least we're here. I was getting tired of seeing red all the time. *

            "So where's the gym?" Ash asked instantly.

            "Hidden."

            "Again?"  
            "Yep. Have fun searching." Charlotte said. "I'm going to hit the mall. And maybe this time I won't be mobbed by a crazy apprentice seeking revenge!"

            Ash laughed. "See you! Come on, Pika-chan, let's go!" They quickly ran off, leaving Teresa behind with Angel and Vulpix-chan.

            "Come on, Teresa. Don't you want go come shopping with me?" Charlotte asked.

            "No." Teresa said. * I'd rather go watch Ash battle. *

            "Suit yourself. Come on, Vulpix-chan! Angel, could you?"

            Angel nodded in response to her unspoken statement. Charlotte and Vulpix-chan quickly vanished from view.

            "Come on, let's go find Ash." Teresa said.

            Angel shrugged and sniffed the air. He went that way. 

            "Great! Maybe I can get him to wear one of my costumes!" Teresa said as she dashed off. 

            "Finally!" Ash said, as he located the gym. "I can't believe the entrance is behind a dumpster! What kind of person runs this gym anyways? Is it just me or are most of the gym leaders here paranoid?"

            "They're paranoid." Pika-chan said.

            "I thought so." Ash said. "Now let's go in. It's rare that I get to battle without Teresa recording every second of it."

            "She's only trying to help…" Pika-chan said.

            "Is she? Sometimes she distracts me so I can't concentrate. Pika-chan, can't you do something?"

            "No."  
            Ash sighed before he jumped inside.

            "Welcome to the Emerald gym." A voice said from behind him. A boy who looked a lot like Ash stepped out. "I am Kamen, leader of this gym. Do you wish to challenge me for the Jupiter Badge?"  
            "Yes." Ash said.

            "Interesting. Very well. I accept your challenge. However, before we begin, can I ask you a question?"

            "What?"

            "Is that your girlfriend?" Kamen pointed to a security camera mounted on the wall. In it, Ash could see Teresa furiously banging on the dumpster.

            "Er…"  
            "If she is, I can let her in to cheer for you."

            Pika-chan poked Ash.

            "No, she's just a photographer who follows me around." Ash told Kamen.

            "Oh well." Kamen pressed a switch on the wall, which opened the passageway and dropped Teresa into the room.

            "Here you go Ash!" Teresa said as soon as she had recovered from her fall. She shoved another costume into his arms. Ash sighed. Pika-chan's cheeks sparked evilly as she pointed at him.

            "Kamen, do you have a restroom I could borrow?"

            Kamen blinked, but indicated a restroom. 

            "Thank you!" Ash said as he went in.

            When Ash came out, he had on a long, grass green shirt covered with blades of grass patterns in darker shades of green. Underneath the overshirt, he wore a plain white long-sleeved shirt. He wore white jean shorts, white socks, and polished green sneakers. There were no gloves with this costume. In his hair, two strands of artificial grass blades had been woven in.

            Kamen burst into guffaws. However, he managed to control his laughter enough to accept Ash's challenge.

            "Let's do a 4 x 4!" Ash said.

            "Fine by me." Kamen said as he reached for a poke ball. "Challenger picks first."

            "Oddish, I choose you!" Ash said. * This is a grass gym, right? Seems like it… *

            "Chikorita, I choose you!" Kamen said. The cute little grass pokemon appeared on the scene and trilled happily.

            Ash pulled out his pokédex. The same 'no data' message came up again. Ash sighed. "Oh well. Oddish, use Sweet Scent!"

            Oddish nodded and sent the pheromones at Chikorita. Chikorita suddenly stopped moving and went still.

            "Chikorita, Reflect!" Kamen called, knowing that at least that would cut the damage being done by Oddish's next attack. Chikorita would be frozen for at least a turn, so he'd have to rely on defensive attacks.

            "Oddish, use Acid!" Oddish smiled cutely and hit Chikorita head-on with the corrosive substance. Some was deflected by Reflect, but the rest collided with Chikorita, causing her to wince in pain as the acid splattered on her flanks.

            "Chikorita!" Kamen said. * I should withdraw her before she gets hurt. * He aimed the withdraw beam at Chikorita, but it was frozen and couldn't be recalled.

            "Oddish, use Sleep Powder!" Ash said. * That way Kamen can withdraw it and I won't have to faint it. *

            Oddish nodded. Chikorita quickly fell asleep, and Kamen opted to withdraw his first fainted pokemon.

            "Go Ash!" Teresa cheered. Pika-chan jumped up and down, waving her dark blue pom-poms.

            Ash smiled at Pika-chan's antics. 

            "Parasect, I choose you!" Kamen said next.

            "A bug-type. Oddish is weak to bug." Ash said to himself. Oddish? Do you think you can do this? 

            I'm tired. Oddish told Ash. Ash nodded and withdrew his pokemon.

            "Okay, Oddish, time for you to take a break. Flareon, I choose you!"

            Flareon landed on the field and immediately lashed out with Fire Spin, trapping Parasect.

            "Spore!" Kamen said. * If I put the Flareon to sleep, I can leech its HP away while it can't attack. *

            Parasect's spores flew at Flareon, but she just incinerated them with a burst of Ember. 

            "Now. Headbutt!" Flareon nodded and barreled into Parasect, sending it flying out of the arena.

            Flareon puffed out a bit of smoke in pride.

            "In that case, I'll use Elekid!" Kamen said. From another poke ball came a small, yellow-and-black pokemon.

            "Must be the pre-evolution of Electabuzz." Ash said, taking a good look. "That means it's an electric type. Flareon, use Flamethrower!"

            "Elekid, counter with Thunderpunch!" Kamen ordered. 

            The two attacks met with an explosion, throwing both pokemon back. Flareon tumbled to the ground. Elekid was waiting for this and hit it with Thunder.

            Flareon let out a roar before it fainted.

            "Flareon, return." Ash said. You did very well, Flareon. Rest now.   
            "Well?" Kamen asked. * If I can faint two more of his pokemon with Elekid, I'll have it made! *

            "Eterneon, I choose you! Light Ray!" The familiar ray of stars headed for Elekid. 

            "Quick Attack!" Kamen said. * Come on Elekid, I know you can dodge those stars! *

            "Use Lock-On!" Ash said. Eterneon's eyes glowed and she began to track Elekid. Finally, it was too tired to run anymore.

            "Now! Light Beam!" Eterneon's light beam attack sent Elekid into dreamland. Kamen withdrew his pokemon with a puzzled frown. * How did that challenger get an Eterneon? *

            "Here's my trump card! Ampharos, go!"  
            "Ash, it's an electric type!" Pika-chan called. Ash nodded. 

            "Eterneon, Light Ray again!"

            "Ampharos, use Thunderpunch!" 

            This time, the two attacks crashed again, but the electricity from the Thunderpunch was merely absorbed by the stars and flung back at Ampharos, which roared in fury.

            "Rage!"

            "Eterneon, Teleport!" Eterneon teleported out of Ampharos's way several times, making the dragon angrier and angrier.

            "Thunder! We'll have to hit it that way!"

            "Oh no you don't! Eterneon, use Detect!" Eterneon's eyes glowed and she avoided every single bit of electricity. "And now, finish it off with Psybeam!"  
            Ampharos fainted.

            "Okay, you deserve the Jupiter Badge." Kamen said. "I admit that you are a really good trainer." He gave Ash the badge. "Oh, and here's a TM for you. TM#68 is Thundershock. In case you wanted to teach it to any of your pokemon."

            Ash thanked Kamen and left. Teresa went off to see if she could find a sewing store and get some more needles and thread.

End Episode 64! Flames will be used to create Maze, to trap Nelvana inside a maze forever so they'll be too busy to dub! C&CC accepted. *Cackles*


	25. Shadowed betrayal

Episode 63! 

Disclaimer: Shadow doth not own pokemon. Anything written by me is for entertainment purposes only. However, according to the international copyright law, what I write belongs to me. If anyone wants to put my fics on their page, please ask first and I'll probably let you archive it (or them).

Notes: Italics indicates pokemon speech translated, ** indicates thoughts, and indicates telepathy.

Timeline: The next day

Pokemon Reader – uh, I see. *Hides behind flame shield*

Tmp – yep, green and Jupiter. I have reddish-brown hair… ^_^

Ranma – yes, this chapter will not be filler, hopefully.

The Insane Vulpix – thanks! *bows*

Digifan – yep, Ash has only missed one badge so far, and that's Force… no, Ash and Teresa are not b/f and g/f in any way, shape or form

Guy Shani – I did? *Thinks hard* well, they're common but hard to catch…

Fire Eevee – CORRECT! No Johto pokemon because this is the kanto part but there will be some later.

SnowTiger - ^_^ thank you very much! *Guardians are eating like there's no tomorrow*  So, let's see if your hypothesis is proven…

Episode 65: Shadowed betrayal 

            "Do you want to go to Amethyst city now?" Charlotte asked Ash. They were eating dinner at a restaurant and discussing the problem Bob posed.

            "He hasn't attacked us yet."  
            "I think he just needs time to rejuvenate." Charlotte said. "Remember, he needs to replenish his magic supply just as we do."

            "Yes, I know." Ash said. He stirred his soup meditatively; the soft tap of the metal spoon clinking against the porcelain bowl was the loudest sound. Even in the crowded restaurant, a quiet aura suffused them.

            "By the way, why didn't Teresa come?" Charlotte asked. * Not that I don't mind her not being here… *

            Teresa sneezed suddenly.

            "Are you still feeling sick? I can get you some Kleenex." Pika-chan offered.

            "That would be good." Teresa said. * I can't believe I'm sick! I just didn't want to eat out, so I told Ash I wasn't feeling well, but I didn't expect to actually get sick! Is this fate playing a joke on me? *

            Pika-chan came back with the Kleenex. Vulpix-chan also came in. She had a bowl of chicken soup balanced on her head.

            "This is from Nurse Joy. She said that she didn't want you passing germs onto other trainers. There's also some aspirin."

            "Thanks." Teresa said. She sighed and drank her soup meditatively. * Maybe this will help… please let it work… *

            Ash looked a bit startled. "I don't know. She said that she felt sick, so she was going to stay at the Pokemon Center."

            "Maybe we should wait until she's well before we leave." Charlotte said. * After all, it's not like we can get rid of her… *

            "I'm not sure." Ash said. * How long will I be here? I wonder how much time has passed back at home. *

            "Until we defeat Bob, you cannot return home." Charlotte said.

            "What?"  
            "His magic prevents you from using a card to return, or reactivating the gateway that brought you here." Charlotte said. "Can't you tell? He can temporarily block our powers with his own dark magic."  
            Ash sighed. "Can we really beat him?"

            "I'm not sure. We managed to wound him last time, pretty badly, but he broke the Onyx Seal before it activated. However, I think that if we repair the Seal and inflict as much damage as we did last time, we have a chance."  
            "I hope so…" Ash said as he rubbed his key a bit nervously.

            They were interrupted from additional conversation when a waitress arrived with two plates of green salad, with a fresh slice of bright red tomato on top, layered with creamy dressing and bacon bits, looking absolutely divine.

            "Enjoy your meal!" The waitress said in a love-struck voice as she looked at Ash with little hearts for eyes.

            Ash looked very confused.

              She likes you, I think. 

            WHAT?! 

            Ash nearly knocked over his food, but restrained himself just in time as a veil of neutrality lowered itself over his features. That's impossible! 

            Ever heard of love at first sight? 

            Still. Ash said indignantly as he began eating his salad. Some females are just crazy. 

            That's for sure.   
  


            A few minutes later, the main dish arrived. Ash bit into his Cinnabar Volcano Burger happily. Charlotte ate a bit slower. She had ordered a BLT, and was having trouble since the bacon slices kept falling out.

            "I guess we just train and pray." Ash finally said.

            "There's really nothing else we can do."

            "I know…"

            "Ash, I just have one request."

            Ash blinked. "A request? What is it?"

            "Could you persuade Teresa not to make costumes for us? One, they don't provide any protection from magic, and two they get in the way. Plus, number three, they annoy me a lot."  
            "I-I'll try." Ash said. * If Pika-chan doesn't hurt me… *

            "Thanks Ash, I knew I could count on you." Charlotte said.

            "No problem. Her costumes are annoying me as well. I mean; I'm not just Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet anymore. I'm not just another trainer trying to become the League Champion. I'm also… Destiny. And I have a mission: to protect pokemon and to defeat the Dragon-Mage."  
            "She doesn't' understand you."

            "Yes!" Ash said in relief. "I knew I could talk to you about this. You see, she thought card capturing was nothing but fun and games. She treats it like she's putting on a show. But it's not that simple."  
            "Magic _changes_ people." Charlotte said. * And we can never tell if its for the better or for the worse… *

            Ash caught on to her unspoken meaning and nodded. 

            Back at the pokemon center…

            Pika-chan and Vulpix-chan had joined Angel and Sabrina downstairs for a guardian-only discussion, leaving Teresa alone in the hospital bed. Teresa felt very depressed and alone. * Why does Ash like her better? It's not fair! Maybe if I improved my magic he'd like me… *

            Bob's messenger appeared in the room. It was a blue Growlithe with red stripes. Teresa immediately started taking pictures of it.

            "I bring you a message." The growlithe said.

            "What is it?" Teresa asked. * I wonder who's it from? *

            "My master needs your aid. Will you help him? In return he will grant you your heart's dearest wish."

            Teresa looked amazed. "Really?" * My heart's dearest wish… Ash could be mine… *

            "Yes." The Growlithe held out a card with fancy writing on it. Teresa skimmed through the contract and signed her name at the bottom in ink. This was not a very wise decision, but now it was legal.

            The Growlithe smiled. "Now accept his power!" From the sky came bolts of shadow energy, which all entered Teresa's body. Her eyes took on a red gleam. The Growlithe smiled and scampered off.

            Back at the restaurant…

            Ash shuddered suddenly.

            "Are you okay?" Charlotte asked worriedly. * Maybe all the magic drain is affecting him… that's bad… *

            "I'm kind of cold."  
            "That's fine. We'll go back to the pokemon center." Charlotte said.

            "Okay!" Ash said. "Let's go." They paid for their meal and left.

            "We're going to Amethyst city tomorrow." Ash told Teresa. "Are you feeling better?" 

            Teresa nodded. "Cool! Purple… okay, I think I can design a costume to go with that."

            Ash sweatdropped. * Shoot, what am I supposed to tell her now? *

            "Um, Teresa…"

            "What is it?" Teresa asked perkily.

            "I don't mind wearing your costumes for gym battles, but if I'm fighting Bob, I'd rather wear my armor."

            Teresa teared up. "You don't like my costumes?"

            "It's just that they're not very good protection." Ash said.

            Teresa drooped, but accepted his logic. "Okay."

            "I knew you'd see it my way." Ash said. "I have to go now. Good night, Teresa!" He left the room and went to go brush his teeth.

            Nobody noticed the quick flash of red in Teresa's violet eyes.

*********FANFIC CHALLENGE! ******************************************

Plot: With the Pokemon League growing corrupt from within and selling itself out to Team Rocket, a small group of dedicated pokemon trainers must find some way to stop this before Team Rocket winds up in control of Kanto and Johto!  
  


Characters: You _must_ have these characters: Ash, Lance, Misty, and Sabrina. 

You may add 2 major characters and as many minor characters as needed.

Nobody can start out with these pokemon: Lugia, Ho-oh, Serebii, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Suicune, Raikou, and Entei. Either Ash and/or Sabrina may own Mew and/or Mewtwo…

Romance: Romance is O.K., as long as its not AAMRN. However, a romance-only story would not be appropriate. Championshipping (Ash/Lance) or Mirageshipping (Ash/Sabrina) would be good. Rocketshipping is acceptable also. But you don't have to do romance.

That's it! Magic, curses, anything goes! 

***********************************************************************

End Episode 65! Well, I know you want to read the next chapter, so why don't you review? *Pokes readers* See ya!

Blame the network if this wasn't updated fast enough.

Um… I have summer school, *Sobs*, so if I update a bit slower its because of the gigantic homework load I have from it…

Anyways, ja ne!


	26. Deceptive souls

Episode 66! *Cheers and throws confetti*

Disclaimer: *Sighs* Shadow does not own pokemon. I wish I did, but Nintendo won't sell it! Come on, I'll pay $5, a barely-used Statistics textbook, dead batteries from my Gameboy, three rolls of toilet paper, and a Hershey's dark chocolate bar. Oh, and a *holographic* Entei card!

Notes: ** indicates thoughts of course, indicates telepathy in case you didn't know, and italics indicates (insert drum roll) translated pokemon speech!

Guy Shani – thank you

Ranma – the Teresa thing is familiar? *Confused blinking* Wonder why, I've never written anything like that before I think.

Digifan – yep, funny! And Teresa has been lured to the dark side. ^_^

Hell Flame Vulpix – you know, it's a lot easier for me if you keep the same name? Just a suggestion, oh, someone else wants Teresa to die!

The Pokemon reader – I hate summer school… . Oh well, thanx.

SnowTiger – Hi! Guessed right, yay! ^_^ Actually, I think Amethyst city is _not_ paranoid. Hmm… well, Ash and Charlotte's reactions won't be good, that's for sure, once they find out. And Eriol ought to be checking in on them soon.

Episode 66: Deceptive souls

            "We're here!" Charlotte said as her Pidgeot landed. "What do you think? This is one of the nicer cities."  
            "I like it!" Ash said. * The light purple doesn't hurt my eyes… yay! *

            "I wonder if there are any clothing shops nearby?" Teresa mused to herself. * I can get some stuff… *

            Suddenly, Teresa felt a slightly familiar but still freaky presence enter her mind. * I have an assignment for you, Teresa. *

            Already? Teresa asked the mysterious mage. She had no idea who he really was. Too bad for her…

            Yes. Do not worry, I shall send you a helper. He shall be your guardian. 

            When will I meet him? 

            Leave them. I will send him to you then. 

            "Charlotte, do you know where the gym is? Please tell me it's not hidden again." Ash pleaded.

            "Luckily, this gym (Amethyst City) is in plain view. The gym in Aquamarine city is very well camouflaged though." Charlotte said.

            "Great! Where is it?"

            "Follow me." Charlotte said. "Teresa, do you want to come along?"  
            "No thank you." Teresa said. 

            Charlotte nodded and led Ash off. The guardians immediately headed to the nearest sweetshop in the vicinity.

            "Mmm! They have lemon drops and caramel creams and candy canes and licorice and strawberry pudding and-!" Pika-chan said as she scampered towards it.

            "And cinnamon sugar treats and raspberry nut clusters and peppermint patties and caramel apples and salt-water taffy and sugar bunnies…" Vulpix-chan added as she raced at Pika-chan's heels.

            Angel yawned. "Well, they do have coffee." This earned him dumbfounded looks from the other two guardians.

            "You want _coffee_?!"

            "Oh well." Pika-chan said. * It's his loss. *

            Vulpix-chan smiled as she pranced around. * More for me then! *

            Teresa headed to the park. When she got there, she sat down at a bench and waited. Soon, a bright red Rattata came up. 

            "Are you my guardian?" Teresa asked.

            The Rattata nodded and made a little bow. "My name is Scarlet."

            "Cool. So does that mean you'll teach me how to use my magic?"

            "I will indeed." The Rattata said. "But first, do you know any spells?"

            Teresa shook her head.

            "Then I will start at the beginning." And so, the Scarlet began teaching Teresa one of the most basic dark spells. Darkness call.

            Meanwhile…

            "I'm so glad I'm not stuck wearing anything this time." Ash said in mingled relief and a bit of uncertainty as he and Charlotte walked into the Amethyst gym.

            "Me too." Charlotte said as she went up to the lady at the front desk. "My friend would like to battle the gym leader."

            The receptionist sniffed haughtily and tossed her hair. "Sorry, but Hester's all booked for today."

            Ash looked disappointed. "Come on, let's go…" He said.

            "Just a second." Charlotte said. "I don't like your attitude, miss, and I'd suggest that you change it."

            The receptionist laughed lightly. "Oh, I'd like to see a ragamuffin like you try to beat me!"

            Ash, sensing a catfight coming up, retreated to the side of the room, before deciding that it was wiser to leave.

            "One on one." Charlotte said.

            "Done. Ursaring, go!"

            Charlotte smirked a little bit. "Raichu, I choose you!" The electric squirrel popped out from its poke ball and sparked its cheeks happily.

            "Ursaring, crush that Raichu with your Body Slam!"

            Raichu easily dodged the clumsy attack. 

            "Match Thunder!" Charlotte said, not bothering to waste time. The deadly accurate electric attack crashed into Ursaring, downing it instantly.

            "Why you!" The receptionist shouted angrily as she rushed at Charlotte. Ash had gone off to the restroom to hide until it was over.

            Charlotte calmly opened her dark blue jacket, revealing an elaborate badge pinned on her blouse. The receptionist immediately stopped short.

            "You were saying?" Charlotte asked icily.

            "I'll clear some room immediately!" The now-flustered lady said.

            "You'd better. Ash, you can come out now!" Charlotte called.

            A few minutes later, Ash and Charlotte walked into the arena. A woman in her late twenties was there. She had gray eyes and beautiful dark brown hair braided into a serviceable bun, and on the bodice of her plain gray dress was a fantastically embroidered letter 'A'.

            (A/N: Quip to Hawthorne, writer of the Scarlet Letter, which is required reading in high school. Heh.)

            "You wish to challenge me?" She asked softly.

            "Yes, ma'am." Ash said, instantly sensing that he had to be polite.

            "Very well. Would a one on one battle suffice? I am sorry, but my daughter is ill and I must tend to her."

            "Fine by me." Ash said with a smile.

            "Very well. Smeargle." From Hester's poke ball came a fantastic pokemon. It was obviously a normal-type, with floppy ears and a paint-tipped tail.

            "Careful, Ash. Smeargle can mimic other pokemon's attacks. Like ditto." Charlotte warned.

            "I'll remember that." Ash said. "Let's begin!"

            "Choose your pokemon." Hester said impatiently.

            "Okay… Sunny, you haven't fought in a while. I choose you!" 

            Sunny leapt out of her poke ball, fur already sparking in eagerness. I'm ready whenever you are! 

            "Smeargle, use Earthquake!" Hester commanded. Ash blanched, but quickly ordered Sunny to Agility so she wouldn't get hit.

            "Now use Zap cannon!" Sunny nodded and fired the whirling ball of swirling electric power at the Smeargle, which couldn't duck in time.

            "Smeargle, don't panic! Use Crabhammer!" One of Smeargle's arms went into claw form and it charged Sunny.

            "No way! Pin Missle!" The poison pins shot at Smeargle, making it resemble a porcupine, but it kept charging until the claw connected with Sunny, who shrieked as her side buckled.

            "Sunny, quick! Headbutt!" Sunny nodded and head butted the Smeargle, sending it flying into the air. It fell back down, looking utterly exhausted.

            "Not bad." Hester said as she recalled her fallen pokemon. "Not bad at all. Here's the Saturn Badge. You deserve it."

            "Thank you, ma'am." Ash said. Hester nodded and shoed them out, so she could go check on her daughter, Pearl, who was sick.

            "Well, it's really pretty." Teresa said that night when they were relaxing in the Amethyst city pokemon center.

            Ash smiled as he put his Saturn badge back in his vest. "Thanks, Teresa." He said. "Did you have fun today?"

            "Yep!" Teresa said. "I found a Rattata today! Isn't it cute?"

            Ash blinked. The Rattata did not look very special, it resembled just about every other Rattata on the planet.

            "Nice." Ash said.

            Scarlet allowed a small smirk. * Those fools. Master Bob was right. They can't even tell that there's an enemy in their midst. *

            "Lightning Flash!" 

            Ash looked up. * What was that? * He ran downstairs to the miniature battle arena to take a peek.

            There, Charlotte, dressed in her golden quest armor was practicing hurling lightning bolts at targets the size of tennis balls.

            "Hi, Ash." Charlotte said, as she blasted two apart. 

            "Hi! You're still training?"

            "We never know when Bob will attack again. And I have no cards to change, unlike you." Charlotte replied. "So I have to practice my magic."

            "Ah. Well, I'm going to bed." Ash said, yawning. "Night!"

            "Night."

End Episode 66! Reviews are accepted with gratitude. Quick! Post a review! Plotbunnies are shriveling up faster than drying raisins! 

I have writer's block… but don't worry, I have enough extra episodes on hand for a few months at least, until I can get my mind to start ticking again…

I GOT MY BRACES OFF! YIPPEE!


	27. Summoning

Episode 65! 5 x 13 episodes already!  
  


Disclaimer: *Shrugs* Yeah, I know I don't own pokemon. Oh well.

Notes: indicates psychic communication, ** indicates thoughts, and italics indicates translated pokemon speech! Yeah! 

Timeline: 6 days later…

Guy Shani – yes, Teresa is evil. Why? Because most readers hate Teresa so I need a practical reason to keep her.

Ranma – Hehehehe, I won't answer, keep guessing…

Hell Flame Vulpix – its okay. *Laughs as I watch Teresa in flames*

Digifan – Teresa _does_ have other pokemon, like Kangaskhan and Doduo. But yep, evil pokemon might be good.

Matt C. – why thank you! *Bows*

The Pokemon Reader – hi! I am posting!

Episode 67: Summoning

            "One more badge, and I'll be able to compete!" Ash said excitedly.

            "I know." Charlotte said. "Now you just need the Uranus badge or the Neptune badge."

            "Oh. Cool!" Ash said. "Can I get both?"

            "Yes, you'll just have to beat both gym leaders. But they're really hard, so most people just get one badge."

            "I see. Let's go!"

            "Espeon, Teleport!" Charlotte said, releasing her psychic type eevelution. * Now why didn't I think of this earlier? *

            Espeon glowed and teleported the whole group to Aquamarine City.

            "Pretty!" Teresa said, clapping her hands, as her pigtails bobbed up and down. "Wow! It's so cool!"

            "I like it. It reminds me of the ocean." Ash said. * It _is_ very nice, almost like a seascape. Who designed all these cities? *

            There was no reply. Ash wasn't expecting one anyways.

            "Shall we hit the gym?"

            "I'm going to go pick up some items we need for the ceremony tonight." Charlotte said. "See you guys later!"  
            "Oh!" Teresa said. * That'll give me time to train with Scarlet! *

            "I'm going to go challenge some trainers, I guess." Ash said. * On second thought, maybe I can earn some more money and buy a few more items before I go fight the leaders… *

            Soon, Ash saw that a makeshift stadium had been set up in the park, with several trainers clustered around it. A big, burly lady in dark magenta leggings and a leather jacket was busy fighting a pitiful-looking little girl with limp grayish hair.

            "Staryu, tackle!" said the girl.

            "Sorry, girlie, but you're way out of your league here. Ekans, use Wrap!" The lady's Ekans quickly finished off Staryu in three successive wraps. The girl sighed and toddled off to the pokemon center.

            "Any other challengers?" The lady asked.

            Nobody said anything.

            "Hey, I'll fight you." Ash said.

            "Fine by me. And if you win, I'll give you this TM 83 I don't need." Said the lady good-humoredly. "Ekans can't learn Drill peck, anyways."

            "Sounds good to me." Ash said. "How many pokemon?"

            One of the trainers designated himself as the referee. "Three is usually the best, or one on one."  
            "Let's do three on three then." Ash said.

            "Sounds good to me." The lady said. "By the way, my name's Miranda. What's yours?"

            "Ash Ketchum." Ash said, with a little bow. "Shall we begin?"

            "Yes. I'll keep Ekans out. That Staryu didn't hurt it at all."

            "Pidgey, I choose you!" Ash's prized magic-type Pidgey popped out.

            "Ekans, use Wrap again!" Miranda said.

            "Pidgey, Extreemespeed!" Pidgey darted through Ekans' coils and scored a direct hit on its body, doing it the high damage from Extreemespeed.

            "Ekans, Poison Sting!" A hail of darts shot towards Pidgey.

            "Pidgey, Whirlwind!" Pidgey's attack slammed into Ekans, her wings beating furiously as the wind sucked the Ekans into the wind tunnel she had just created. Ekans went swirly eyed and fainted.

            "Not bad at all." Miranda said. "Try this one, then. Haunter, go!" The grinning ghost-type came out, leering at Pidgey, who quailed a bit.

            "Don't worry about it, Pidgey. Use Wing Attack!" Pidgey nodded and slapped the Haunter with her wings frenziedly.

            "Haunter, Hypnosis and then Dream Eater!"

            "Quick! Close your eyes, Pidgey!" Ash said, but it was a bit too late. The hypnosis sent Pidgey into dreamland. 

            "Return." Ash said quickly, not wanting one of his oldest pokemon to face a ghost-type's dream eater attack. * I wonder if I can use my pokemon cards? It's worth a try… *

            "Drowzee!" Ash said. From underneath his shirt and vest his key glowed white for a second as the pokemon card appeared and changed into a pokemon. Since the assembled trainers were not magicians, they couldn't see.

            "Interesting. Oh well. Haunter, use the same attack!"

            "Drowzee, counter with your own Hypnosis!" The Hypnosis rings cancelled each other out, not doing damage to neither pokemon.

"Don't panic, Drowzee. Use Psychic!" Drowzee smiled a little bit (hard to tell with its spaced out look) and zapped Haunter with its psychic attack.

            "Ouch." Miranda said, wincing. "Return! How about… Graveler!"

            "Psychic again!" Ash said cheerfully. Drowzee nodded and slammed its waves of psychic energy into Graveler, K.O.ing it.

            "You win." Miranda said, handing Ash the Drill Peck TM and some money. "It was a good battle."

            "You're pretty good yourself." Ash said as he packed his stuff up and left. "See you around!" Ash smiled at Drowzee, who smiled back, before turning into a swirl of white energy that vanished into a card. Ash picked up his new Drowzee card, put it in his pocket, and left to find the supermarket.

            Why are you getting canned food? Sunny asked. She trotted along at Ash's heels. Pika-chan was gone and he might need some protection.

            Because I think that I should stop relying on Charlotte's charity. She's been providing most of our meals so far. Besides, I'm going to be going back to my own universe fairly soon anyways. 

            I see. Sunny said. * Wow, he's getting more responsible. That's great! Wait till Mew hears this! *

            Ash selected several cans of fruits and vegetables, plus soup, which could be easily cooked in a pot with water over a campfire. 

            Can I get a snack? 

            "You're getting as bad as Pika-chan." Ash said, sighing. "What type of snack do you want?"

            Vanilla pudding! Sunny said. Or lemon Jell-O. 

            "I can get both. They're not that expensive." Ash said as they walked down the dessert aisle. 

            Yay! Sunny cheered, losing her dignity for once. * Snacks! *

            After Ash had handed the food to the checker and paid for it, he and Sunny left the restaurant to go and find the guardians.

            "Darkness call!" Teresa said, successfully stunning a Lv. 9 Pidgey with her attack.

            "You're getting better." Scarlet said as he yawned. * She's still a long way off though… oh well; at least she might be able to summon creatures of darkness now. *

            "Do you want to try summoning magic?"

            Teresa lit up. "Could I?" She breathed in a whisper.

            "You can certainly try." Scarlet said. * Hmm… a nice minion to teach those two brats a lesson… I know! A Minotaur! That'll certainly give them something to deal with, and since Bob won't mind… *

            "How about a minotaur?"

            "What's that?" Teresa asked, confused.

            "A magical creature."

            "Oh! This is so cool!"  
            "So this is how the spell works…"

            Five minutes later…

            "_Come forth! I summon thee from the depths of darkness, accept my sealing and become my servant!" _Teresa's eyes were slightly glazed over, as she finished the spell that brought a being of darkness into the world.

            The Minotaur looked around and blinked in confusion.

            _"Attack my enemies." _ In the air, a picture of Ash and Charlotte formed. Instantly, the Minotaur ran off to attack them, snorting angrily in its rage.

            Charlotte tensed. * Darkness… someone had called a creature of darkness into this world! I won't allow it! * She grabbed her shopping bags and ran for the exit.

            The old man who ran the herb shop blinked in confusion. * Did I do something wrong? *

            "Key that hides the power of sunlight, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Charlotte commandeth you, Release!" Charlotte grabbed her staff and vaulted into the air. "Raikou!" Golden armor covered her body, as well as a gold mask that obscured her features. "No time to call the guardians, I hope Ash is nearby!"

            "Hmm?" Ash looked up. * Did someone call me? * Just then, he saw a monster chasing someone in gold armor.

            "Oh. Okay, I'll be there in a second!" Ash called, before he pulled out his staff and threw out Jigglypuff. "Jigglypuff, Sing! Put everyone around her to sleep!"

            Jigglypuff obeyed and soon, all the people were asleep.

            "I'm coming!" Ash said as he used Arcanine to race after the two figures in the distance.

End Episode 67! Well, how was it? Can you believe I'm actually trying to translate this into Spanish? Oh well. Flames will be used to create Bubbles, so she can drive Nelvana insane with her laughter or bury them in soap bubbles!


	28. Diversions hey, i have fanart too!

Episode 66! *Shivers* Ooh, double numbers. Scary!  
  


Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokémon. She is not making any profit off this fanfiction anyways, so if you try to sue her, she will hurl fireballs and lightning in anger.

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates translated pokémon speech! Oh yes, and Teresa is evil. Heh. Or maybe she's just possessed.

Ranma – well, you know, I can't keep Ash in Cosmos 4ever, I'd get too many complaints… and yes, darkness is good. ^_^

Hell Flame Vulpix – um, well, hmm… that depends, though I think Pika-chan is just rubbing off on Sunny.

SnowTiger – well… actually, haven't thought of who designed the cities yet. *Sheepish look* Scarlet will have a rather intriguing role later on, I think.

Digifan – Teresa is dark! *Cheers* 

Guy Shani – well, that's good. At least someone appreciates my evil genius.

Fire Eevee – think about it, why not Teresa? She's close to Ash, and I don't think Charlotte would be easily controlled…

Mathais-8888 – well, _I_ don't know why ppl don't like Teresa, but heck, I always hated Tomoyo in CCS anyways… so… *Shrugs* anyways, at least I'm keeping her.

Where in the world is Tmp?

Episode 68: Diversions

            "Jolteon, Thunder!" Charlotte said, calling down electricity on the monster with the aid of her lightning eevelution. But the attack was simply absorbed by the Minotaur, who flung it back at her in double.

            Charlotte shuddered as the electricity coursed through her system. * Good thing I'm fire-blooded. * She thought, before she pulled out another sun card. "Fine then, try this! Jynx, go! Blizzard!" The devastating ice attack was slightly more effectively, but not that much.

            The Minotaur staggered only slightly, before it actually picked up a lamppost and swung it at her.

            Charlotte jumped out of the way. * I hope Ash gets here soon… * 

            "Jynx, use Blizzard again!" Jynx nodded and flung the ice fragments at the Minotaur's face, which proved to be rather prejudicial to its health. 

            The monster pawed the ground and roared, before charging again and flinging Jynx into a tree.

            Charlotte winced. * This is not good! * "Ninetails, go! Flamethrower!"

            Just then, Ash arrived. "What is it?"

            "Some time of monster that's resistant to ice and electric!" Charlotte said as her ninetails flamed the Minotaur.

            Ash threw out a card of his own. "Arcanine, I choose you! Go help Ninetails!" Arcanine growled in reply and charged.

            Two blasts of fire toasted the Minotaur, which fell over and exhaled a poof of dust before it turned to ashes.

            "Phew." Ash said, as he recalled his Arcanine. "Hey, it wasn't that bad."  
            Charlotte would have said more, but than she noticed something else. "Don't talk yet, Ash. Look up."

            From one of the tall buildings leapt another Minotaur.

            "Well, you're tired, I'll take care of it!" Ash said.

            Charlotte nodded. * The sun's going down and my magic wanes with the sun. * Her eyes turned gold for a bit and she encased herself in a shell of golden light, shrinking her wand back into a key and hoping that Ash could handle this one his own.

            Ash nodded and pulled out a card. * Well, if they're weak against fire, I'll use more than one fire pokemon! * "Vulpix – wait, she's still at home. Okay then. Growlithe, Arcanine, go!" The two canine fire-types charged and attacked.

            However, this Minotaur was different. It seemed wholly resistant to fire attacks, and flung Growlithe and Arcanine's attacks back at them, knocking both of them out.

            "What?!" Ash asked, shocked.

            "Careful." Charlotte warned. "They seem to be able to change type so they'll be strong against your attack types."  
            Ash thought quickly. * Then it must have changed to rock or water type… all right then, I'll use grass! *

            "Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release!" Ash said, tossing a card into the air and touching it with the wings on his staff. "Tangela!" The walking bundle of vines hopped out and immediately lashed with Vine Whip at the Minotaur, which roared in pain and toppled over.

            "Great! Now use Bind!" Tangela nodded and bound the Minotaur up tightly, so it couldn't move. 

            Ash breathed a sigh of relief. * Thank Serebii! It worked! * Unfortunately, his relief was short lived as the Minotaur burst into flames. Tangela shrieked and returned to card form, landing in his hands.

            "Now I need a water type." Ash said. "Fine then! Staryu!" The star shape pokemon appeared and blasted the Minotaur with water. But it alone wasn't strong enough, so Ash threw out another water type.

            "Goldeen, go! Waterfall!" Together, the two managed to subdue the Minotaur. Ash sighed in real relief this time.

            "Let's go." He said.

            Charlotte nodded and wrapped her jacket more tightly around herself. * It's so dark at night… no light… *

            They went back to the pokemon center. Pika-chan and the other guardians were waiting.

            "Where were you?" Pika-chan demanded. "We thought you'd be back here around five!"  
            "Sorry, but we were attacked." Charlotte said.

            "What?!" Instantly, the guardians became very attentive. "Who was it? When? How?"

            "Not sure." Ash said. "But it seemed like a summoning spell."

            "Oh, a monster?" Angel asked as he stretched. "Interesting."

            "A monster?" Teresa asked curiously. "Did you get hurt?"

            "Not really." Ash said. "Just kind of tired…" Pika-chan noticed the slightly glazed look in his eyes and nodded.

            "Get to bed, Ash! You're running low on chi and magic!"

            "Yes, mom." Ash murmured as he headed upstairs. On the way up, though, he blacked out from energy loss.

            Charlotte picked him up. "Wow, he's light. I'll take him to bed."

            "You should rest too." Vulpix-chan said. "The sun's down, and…"

            Charlotte nodded. "I know." She tucked Ash into bed, leaving Sunny there to guard him, before going upstairs to her own room.

            "How did I do?" Teresa asked Scarlet, safely back in her own room.

            "Very well. The master will be pleased." Scarlet said, showing his teeth.

            Teresa smiled cutely. "I'm glad. What can I learn next?"

            "Well, now we will move along to more advanced summoning. I can also teach you charms for beauty and stuff if you'd like."

            "Really?" Teresa's eyes turned shimmery and she stared at Scarlet.

            "Yes. But it will take a lot of hard work." Scarlet said.

            Teresa nodded. * I never knew magic was so complicated… *

            Ash didn't sleep well that night.

****************************Dreamscape**********************************

            Ash was once again standing atop the tower, facing the shadowy figure. In his dreams, he knew that he had dreamt this before, but when he woke up he always forgot what the dream was.

            In front of him, cards fell like snowflakes from the sky. When he reached out to touch one, it vanished in a flow of magic.

            Pika-chan and Sabrina stood next to him and beside him, respectively.

            Ash wanted to ask whom the shadowy figure was, but his voice would not utter a single syllable.

            And when he tried to activate his staff, he was once again frozen.

            His opponent – was it truly his opponent? Moved his? Her? Own staff slightly, just slightly. Ash could see the faint outline of the designs on it. It looked like… a sun, a moon, and faint bits of stars?

            Why wouldn't they step out of the shadows and face him face to face?

            Was there a reason?

            Who was it?

            Power, dark blue, began to gather in their staff.

            Ash wanted to cry out, to beg them to stop, but he couldn't talk…

            He couldn't move…

            He was stuck, and he would die…

            A ball of energy formed… it flew towards him… he still couldn't move, couldn't shield himself with a spell, he couldn't do anything at all…

            And once again, cards sprang up to protect him. His Ash cards…. More of them were present this time, but that was to be expected, because he had changed them…

            Blue flashed before his eyes and vanished…

******************End Dream********************************************

            "Wake up, Ash." Charlotte said as she shook him. Ash stirred and opened his eyes blearily. "What happened?"

            "You've been asleep for almost a day."

            "Again?" Ash asked, incredulously. * I should have gotten used to the energy drain by now… *

            "But you did use a lot of magic yesterday." Pika-chan chimed in. "And you fell asleep before we could use the Wand on you."

            "Oh." Ash said in a small voice.

            Sabrina floated over, carrying a tray with tea, waffles and syrup, sausages, orange juice, a glass of milk, and some berries on it. "Eat up."

            "Thank you, Sabrina." Ash said. 

The moon guardian shrugged nonchalantly and put the food down. * Of course, I had to protect this from those two gluttons… *

Hey! I heard that! Pika-chan said.

Is it untrue, my dear? 

Grr….   
            Well? 

It's not fair! 

            "This is spelled. Eating this food will help your magic energy increase." Charlotte said.

            Ash nodded and dug into his meal with a good appetite. * Mmm, this is great! *

            Teresa came in and hugged Ash. Nobody noticed the slightly dark aura that hung over her…unfortunately…

End Episode 68! Woohoo, it's over! *Smirks* Well?

Shadow has actually drawn fanart! Unfortunately, my artistic skills are pretty much nonexistent and the picture scanned pretty badly, but… just in case you want to see a picture of lance-chan, here's the link.

Tell me what you think about the pic, it took me one hour to get it right… ^_^()


	29. Moonlit madness

Episode 69! Wow, it's getting long… maybe I should start wrapping it up…

Disclaimer: See an earlier part, I'm too tired to type…

Notes: ** indicates thoughts, indicates telepathy, italics indicates translated poke speech…

Fire Eevee – thanks for telling me, it does? Cool, I didn't see Spirited away until months after I wrote this chapter, but I think you're right.

Digifan – I'm glad someone likes Teresa being dark.

Ranma – heh, I bet it would. Unfortunately, he's not going to find out until later.

SnowTiger – thank you! ^_^. I'm glad that the darkness will add hopefully, a new side to Teresa.

Hell Flame Vulpix – yes, the link, the link, the quote was fun to write though. *Kicks ff.net* Why does everything quit working?

Episode 69: Moonlit Madness

            "It's time." Pika-chan said.

            "We must do the ceremony tonight." Sabrina added. "Or we will have to wait until next month for the full moon."

            Ash nodded, ignoring how tired he was. "I know…"

            "What preparations do we have to make?" Teresa asked.

            "Well, the purification ceremony, and then the magical cleansing…" Pika-chan went on and on for a few minutes. The two Chosen listened attentively.

            "I have the thread." Charlotte said, holding up a spool of silver thread. "And the seals." Several black circles also appeared in her hands.

            "That's good." Angel said. "Ash?"

            Ash held up what looked like three sharp golden pins, a crystal container filled with colorless liquid, and a length of blue silk cloth with different colored gems on it.

            "Great!" Vulpix-chan said. "Then we're all ready!"

            That night…

            Ash shivered as cold water cascaded over his body. Before they attempted to restore the Onyx seal, they had to go through a purification ceremony first. They had both stripped down to nothing and left with their respective guardians. 

            Pika-chan dumped another bucket of chilling water over Ash's head. "I think he's ready." She told Sabrina.

            "Just about." Sabrina said, following up with one last dose of water, only this water was colored blue. Ash's teeth chattered but he didn't move out of the protective magic circle. 

            "Restoration." Sabrina finished. Then, the two guardians led Ash out and handed him a towel to dry himself with.

            At the same time, Charlotte was soaking in a hot spring. The water was tinted reddish, for her fire element.

            "Done yet?" Vulpix-chan asked.

            "Almost." Charlotte replied. Angel came over with a bowl of pink powder, which he scattered into the air. It drifted over the pool and Charlotte. After a few seconds, she stepped out of the pool. Vulpix-chan tossed her a towel as well.

            "Where's Teresa?"

            "We locked her in the pokemon center."

            Pika-chan and Sabrina helped Ash put on the layered black robe embroidered with gold and blue designs that he would wear for the ceremony. Into his hair went a circlet of gold. Golden bracelets with sapphires and rune spells woven into them went on his arms. Over his feet went light golden sandals.

            "Remember, don't be nervous." Pika-chan whispered.

            Ash nodded and focused his attention and magic on the task that lay ahead.

            "Hold still." Angel said as he pinned the folds of the white robe Charlotte was wearing together. In her hair went a circlet of silver, and on her arms silver bracelets studded with rubies in magical patterns were placed. Vulpix-chan finished with the last piece of jewelry – a silver disk with a star-shaped ruby in the center, on a silver belt – and winked at her Chosen. Good luck! 

            The two Chosen nervously walked into the magic circle that the guardians had already laid out. Each had one half of the broken Onyx seal. The guardians took up their positions at the edges, forming a diamond with the two Chosen in the center. The magic items were laid out in a five-ray pattern.

            Ash and Charlotte nervously laid the two edges of the seal together. Then, Ash began the chant.

            "Queen of the skies, shining bright…"

            "We the Chosen, implore your light," Charlotte said the next line of the spell. Small silver threads began appearing between the cracked sides of the seal. The seals and golden pins vanished, leaving only three magic items still there.

            "Restore the power that evil hath destroyed," The seal began to glow faintly as the magic they were channeling into it focused.

            "Replenish thy energy, prevent evil ways,"

            "Stream of magic, searing fire," At her station, Vulpix-chan began to glow, flame energy streaming towards the seal. The blue ribbon with the gems on it also vaporized and flowed into the seal.

            "Waves of magic, rushing water," Sabrina's form turned transparent, and blue droplets seemed to float away and then dive into the seal. The vial of colorless liquid unstopped itself, and the liquid poured into the chasm.

            "Wind that gathers the power of the sky," From Angel's halo came a bright beam of light, adding itself to the seal. The thread unwound itself from the spool and began weaving itself into a pattern superimposed on the broken seal.

            "Earth that creates so all may die!" Pika-chan's cheeks sparked brightly, dusky energy coming from them and mixing with the rest of the magic.  
            The last line of the chant hung in the air for a brief second, and then exploded in a shower of silver sparks. Both of the Chosen experienced seconds of elation and total, unadulterated joy, before the magic simply vanished.

            The Onyx Seal lay there, once again a whole. The magic items were nowhere to be seen, and the magic circle simply winked out.

            "We did it." Ash managed, before he toppled over in a dead faint.

            Charlotte managed to nod weakly before she, too, succumbed to the energy drain and blacked out.

            The tired guardians looked at each other and smiled. Placing the Seal in a special container, they transformed and carried their guardians back to the pokemon center.

            "DRAT THOSE KIDS!" Bob roared in fury.

            His dragon roared as well.

            "Scarlet! Why didn't you stop this?" Bob demanded.

            The Rattata cowered in fear. "She was too strong for me to control…"

            "Why you useless thing!" Bob shouted as he blasted it with a bolt of dark energy. "Out of my sight! And if you fail again…"  
            Scarlet scampered off.

            Ash slept, but again, he did not sleep well. Again, he dreamed of the dark tower, and the person who stood opposite him.

            "Who are you?!" Ash wanted to shout, but he was mute.

            "Why do you keep tormenting me?"

            "Leave me alone!"

            There was no reply. Since he hadn't spoken those words at all, it was improbable to expect a reply.

            Again, the figure prepared to attack. 

            *SPLASH* 

            "AAAHHH!" Ash jerked awake and saw Vulpix-chan leaning over him, and Pika-chan with a bucket. "Pika-chan!"

            "Catch me if you can!" Pika-chan said as she darted off.

            Ash shrugged and headed to the bathroom. Sunny accompanied him to protect him. Pika-chan went downstairs to get some food.

            "You should rest before your next gym battle." Charlotte commented. "Unless you don't want to use any magic."

            Ash blinked. "Oh."

            "What types of pokemon do the Uranus and Neptune gym leaders have?" Teresa asked.

            Charlotte closed her eyes and thought for a brief second. "Well, Alex uses Flying-types and Ground-types, while Michelle uses water-types, mostly."

            "Great!" Ash said. * I can use Pidgey, Storm and Oddish. *

            "I'll make you two different costumes!" Teresa said ecstatically. Ash and Charlotte couldn't tell that it was just a cover for her steadily darkening personality.

            "That would be great, Teresa." Pika-chan said.

            Teresa beamed.

            "Why do you still waste your time doing this?" Scarlet asked.

            Teresa hummed as she picked out a costume for Ash. He was going to fight Alex first. "Because I like Ash!"

            Even if her personality was now irrevocably altered, certain facets still remained constant. And one was a very imaginative creativity that showed itself in the clothes that she embellished for Ash to wear.

            "I see…" Truthfully, Scarlet could not comprehend her devotion to Ash, but he decided not to pry.

            "This will do!" Teresa said after a few minutes. "Perfect!"

            Scarlet blinked. * Why do humans place so much value on their outer coverings? Strange… *

            Teresa presented Ash with the outfit. He dressed and headed for the gym.

End Episode 69! So, how was the ceremony? Did you like it? Drop me a review! Flames will be used to forge Shadow, so he can envelope Nelvana and steal all of their shadows! *Smirks*  
  



	30. Spirits of the air

Episode 68! *Smiles* Still the Dark Apprentice Arc! Don't worry, as it will be over soon. Glad that some of you stuck with me through all the confusion! 

Disclaimer: Come on, look me in the eyes and tell me I own pokemon. Ignore the rabid pokemon that are clustering around me when you do this…

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates translated pokemon speech.

Episode 70: Spirits of the air

            Ash walked up to the doors of the Aquamarine Gym. One of the doors was dark blue, and the other was aqua. 

            "One's for the Uranus badge and the other is for the Neptune badge." Charlotte whispered.

            "Oh." Ash said, nodding. He turned the golden knob in the dark blue door and it swung inwards, throwing the whole group inside. 

            They landed on a strip of floating gray plastic. There was an arena of dusty earth, with several floating platforms in blue and white bobbing up and down above it. 

            One of the many platforms was marked with the word 'Challenger' in brightly lit yellow letters. 

            "Hello?" Ash asked.

            There was no reply. The air seemed unnaturally silent.

            "Darn. I guess we'll just have to go back to the pokemon center then." Teresa said in disappointment. 

            Charlotte looked puzzled. * Alex usually doesn't leave the gym… what's going on here? When I get my hands on him I'll… just because he's not the main gym leader doesn't mean he can goof off like this! *

            Just then, a sandy-haired boy on a pidgeot landed on the opposite platform. "Hi, and welcome to the Aquamarine gym. I'm Alex, one of the gym leaders."  
            "I'm Ash Ketchum and I'd like to challenge you for the Uranus Badge."  
            "Okay. Interesting get-up." Alex commented as he dismounted and sprayed some Hyper Potion on his Pidgeot.

            Ash blushed. He wore buff-colored pants, a white, long-sleeved shirt that clung to his body, gritty-looking gray gauntlets, short buff-colored boots, and a khaki belt system that crisscrossed across his chest and held his poke balls. His hair had been spiked and gelled to give it a 'windswept' look.

            Teresa positively glowed with excitement. "Good luck Ash!" She yelled.

            Ash sighed. "All right, let's begin!"  
            Alex nodded and took out his first poke ball. "How about a two on two match, we'll add another one if we need to break a tie?"

            "Sounds good to me." Ash said, saluting.

            "Great! Pidgeot, I choose you!" Alex said. His massive flying-type flew off Alex's platform and landed on one of the levitating blue blocks. It screeched a challenge at Ash.

            "In that case, I'll use Storm!" Ash said. * I wonder how Dragonami would stand up to a bird? *

            In response, Storm materialized. Aaahh, it feels so good to be out and battling again! I feel like a Dratini! 

            Ash smiled and gave his pokemon a 'V' for victory.

            "Pidgeot, let's start off with a Quick Attack!" Alex said.

            "Storm, how about calling up some weather?" Storm smirked as two different types of energy began to gather on her adornments. From one side came lightning, and from the other came water, drenching the Pidgeot as it came close.

            Pidgeot quickly backed off as soon as it slapped Storm with a Quick Attack. The sparks of electricity made it very nervous.

            Alex didn't flinch. "Use Sand Attack to blind it, Pidgeot!" Pidgeot nodded and began kicking sand towards Storm, who merely lifted her eyebrows in slight confusion and closed her eyes.

            "Rain Dance." Ash said. Storm smiled and it began to drizzle softly, growing quickly into a downpour. Pidgeot landed on a platform and tried shaking the irritating droplets of water off its downy feathers.

            "Mirror Wave!" Alex said generating a reflective defence against anything his challenger might throw at his Pidgeot in the next turn.

            "How about… Thunderbolt?" Ash asked.

            No problem! Storm said. Even if she _was_ mature, she was still a very cheerful pokemon, so…

            A huge blast of electricity slammed into Pidgeot, sending the poor bird into a collision with another drifting plastic piece. The mirror wave reflected some of it back, but Storm was pretty resistant to electric attacks.

            Pidgeot decided that it was no longer going to continue battling, forcing Alex to withdraw his exhausted pokemon.

            "In that case, I'll use Dugtrio!" Alex said, sending out the pokemon. "Fissure!"

            Ash tensed, but Dragonami laughed. I'm a dragon/flying type, and Fissure won't affect me! 

            True to her word, the attack completely missed. 

            "Argh! Dugtrio, use Magnitude!" Rocks came out of nowhere and smashed into Storm, making her very pissed off.

            "Dragon Rage!" Ash said, smiling.

            Storm nodded and threw the funnel of energy at Dugtrio, sending it out of the match in anger.

            "Oh no! Dugtrio, return!" Alex said. He looked depressed. "Oh well. Here's the Uranus badge." He tossed it over to Ash and left.

            Ash shrugged, hurdled off the platform and onto Storm's back. You did great, girl! I'm so proud of you! 

            Storm licked his face. I'm glad. 

            Pika-chan sighed.

            Teresa went all starry-eyed as she captured the touching scene on film. She even started sniffling.

            Charlotte clapped. "You did great, Ash. You're legally allowed to compete in the Cosmos League, now."  
            "Wonderful! But I think I want to get the Neptune badge too." Ash said, a bit complacently.

            "That's good, but we might have to come back tomorrow."

            "Why?"  
  


            As if in response, Charlotte formed a ball of energy in her hands. It cleared and showed what was the Neptune gym. 

            Inside, a girl with aqua hair and her Azumarill were soundly whipping the tar out of a junior trainer's Flaafy. Standing in line, were about fifteen people, all dressed in various swimsuits. 

            "You have to fight Michelle underwater."

            "Oh no…" Pika-chan said. * This is going to be very bad. Ash can't hold his breath, and he can't use his magic right now! *

            Ash looked reluctant, but accepted her reasoning.

            "I still think you should go for it." Teresa said.

            "I'll wait until I'm a bit stronger." Ash said, meditatively. * After all, I don't want to lose just because I'm too tired… *

            His vision wavered a bit and he nearly toppled off Storm's back.

            "Ah! You shouldn't have come!" Pika-chan said. "You're still energy drained! I can't believe you faked that you were fine!" She then proceeded to go into lecture mode while sending considerable amounts of voltage into his system.

            Ash groaned as Pika-chan shocked him, but he allowed Vulpix-chan and Pika-chan to carry him out of the gym and back to the center.

            "Here, have some berries." Charlotte said, stuffing another spoonful into his mouth. Ash protests but Pika-chan glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and made a throat slitting gesture with her finger.

            Ash frowned, but had no choice. 

            "Don't worry, these berries restore PP and HP as well as magic energy." Charlotte tells him cheerfully. 

            Ash brightened up a little.

            "So, what do we do now?" Teresa asked. 

            "Wait for Ash to get better." Charlotte replied. "Then, after he defeats Michelle, we're going to the Cosmos League. There's one little problem…"  
            "What?"  
            "We haven't factored Bob into the equation yet." Pika-chan said grimly.

            "But he's out of our control!"  
            "Good point."  
  


            "However, he's still incapitated now." Charlotte said. Another scrying spell formed in her hands. It showed Bob's lair.

            "Isn't his lair magically protected?" Vulpix-chan asked.

            "Of course, but during the last battle, Ash tagged him. So now we can just peek into his dimension and see what he's planning."  
            "Cool!" Teresa said. But inwardly, she was feeling nervous. * What will Scarlet say about this? *

            He wasn't pleased. But what could they do? All they could do was sit back and wait for something to happen…

End Episode 70! *Smiles* Drop a review, and you'll make me very happy! Flames will be used to forge Through, who will go through Nelvana's headquarters and run off with all of their expensive equipment and $$$!


	31. Surfing USA! Battle for the Neptune badg...

Episode 71! 

Disclaimer: Yes, Shadow owns pokemon! Mwahahahaha! *Men in white lab coats drag Shadow offstage, while she rants and raves incoherently. After a few seconds, one comes out with a cardboard sign that says 'Ignore our patient, Nintendo owns Pokemon'. *

Notes: Indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates translated pokemon speech! Yatta! 

Timeline: 3 days later

Episode 71: Surfing U.S.A! Battle for the Neptune badge!

            "Michelle! I challenge you!" Ash said. He wore dark red swim trunks with a silver line down each side. His feet were in red buckled sandals, and around his neck was a red whistle on a silver chain. He also wore a loose red waterproof vest with lifeguard embroidered on it in silver over a blue patch.

            Charlotte waved. "I'll watch from outside!"

            "Yeah, I know, you're hydrophobic." Ash reassured her. 

            "Good luck!" Charlotte said, giving him the 'V' for victory.

            Ash nodded and smiled. Teresa took out her camera and started setting it up behind the waterproofing.

            "Fine by me." Michelle said. "Let's have a three on three battle."

            Ash nodded and made sure that his bubble charm was ready to activate. "Ready whenever you are!" He said, jumping into the water.

            Michelle dived in gracefully. She had been born with a natural ability to breathe underwater. Nobody knew why, but it was explained by the fact that both her parents had been water masters.

            "Let's begin." Michelle said. "Cloyster, I choose you!"

            The bivalve pokemon appeared protectively in front of his trainer. _Bring it on!_ He growled in pokespeech.

            Ash thought for a second, before grinning eagerly and throwing out a poke ball. "Okay then – Vaporeon, I choose you!"

            Vaporeon emerged from her poke ball. She noticed that Ash was already encased in a protective bubble, so she nodded and began charging up her attack.

            "Cloyster, use Spike Cannon!"

            Vaporeon, use hyper beam! Vaporeon slyly snuck up behind the slow moving cloyster as its spike cannon temporarily blocked its viewpoint. Then, she let off Hyper Beam.

            Even Cloyster's shell wasn't completely damage resistant, and the shock waves generated by the hyper beam hurt the creature inside, so it withdrew.

            "Come back, Cloyster." Michelle said. "I seem to have underestimated you… but no matter. Azumarill, I choose you!"

            The water bunny hopped out.

            Vaporeon shrugged. _No problem at all._

_            Are you sure?_ Pika-chan called from outside the rink. Ash, are you doing okay in there? 

            I can keep the bubble up for another fifteen minutes.   
            Just try to keep the battles short n' sweet! 

            I know, Pika-chan.   
            Because if you black out, I won't be able to rescue you immediately.   
            I know! 

            Just making sure, Ash. After all, you _are_ my Chosen, and if anything bad happens to you, it'll be my fault. 

            Ash inclined his head to show that he understood.

            Just then, he noticed that Vaporeon was straight in the path of Azumarill's bubblebeam attack.

            Ash quickly yanked Vaporeon out of the way. Sorry about that. 

            No problem. Let's see, I can't use ice beam or anything else that might damage the arena… this is bad. 

            Try Acid Armor.   
            Right! Vaporeon melted away into the water, leaving a very confused Azumarill behind.

            "Rollout!" Michelle said.

            Azumarill tried, but Vaporeon was already gone from where it had been. In liquid form, it could travel extremely fast.

            A few seconds later, a bubblebeam crashed into Azumarill.

            Azumarill went dizzy-eyed.

            "No! Azumarill, don't give up! Use Water gun to blast the Vaporeon out!" Michelle said, a bit angrily. 

            Vaporeon shrieked and left liquid form.

            "Now use Take Down!"

            Azumarill slammed into Vaporeon, but itself was hit by recoil. Both pokemon staggered back.

            "Vaporeon, Bite!" Ash said. Vaporeon clamped down on an ear.

            "Rollout, now!" Azumarill slammed into Vaporeon. But Vaporeon didn't let go when Azumarill butted into it.

            "Shoot! Just use Bubblebeam to blast it off!" Michelle said in anger.

            Azumarill nodded and hit Vaporeon with another bubblebeam.

            "Great!" Michelle said. * He's tying with me! The best I can hope for is a double K.O. *

            "Azumarill, SURF!" Azumarill let loose the huge wave of water, sending Vaporeon flying. From such a close distance, Surf couldn't miss.

            "Vaporeon, quick! Use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.

Vaporeon swam through the Surf and nailed Azumarill with quick attack.

            Azumarill's eyes rolled up in its little head and it fainted. It's bunny ears drooped down in discouragement.

            "Fine then! Mantine, I choose you!" Michelle said, throwing out the ray pokemon that could fly and swim.

            "Supersonic!"

            Vaporeon staggered as the confusion beams crashed into it.

            Ash winced. * Guess I have no choice. Fighting without confusion is hard enough! I'll have to use a pokemon card *

            "Vaporeon, Return!" Ash said.

            From subspace, he summoned a card and held it between two fingers. "Starmie, I choose you!" The card turned white and the pokemon appeared.

            Pika-chan looked nervous. * Ash! You're down to three minutes! Make it fast! *

            "Starmie, use Thunderbolt!" Ash said. The electricity fizzled through the water easily, shocking Mantine (double weakness to electricity) into oblivion. Starmie itself barely managed to hold on to consciousness. 

            "Wow." Michelle said. "You're not bad after all. Mantine, Return! Here, you can have the Neptune badge!"

            Ash recalled Starmie to card form and beamed. He posed for Teresa, who blushed and finished taping.

            "Here you go!" Michelle said, handing Ash the badge.

            Ash smiled. "I owe it all to Vaporeon and Starmie!" The two pokemon posed nicely. Vaporeon even sprayed a thin layer of mist over the area for special effect.

            Teresa snapped a pic. "Okay, all done!" There was a brief flash of red in her dark eyes, but nobody noticed.

            "Cool! In that case, I'll be competing in the Cosmos league soon!" Ash said vibrantly.

            They collected Charlotte, who was at a bookstore two doors down, a few minutes later. Ash changed out of his costume and into a white hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

            "Let's go." Ash said, yawning.

            "Tired?" Charlotte asked, handing him a Full Restore.

            Ash gulped it down and nodded. "Just a bit, from changing Starmie. Having to hide the magic takes energy too."

            "I know. Just be careful, Ash. Some of the trainers may be magic-sensitive." 

            "All right!" Ash said cheerfully.

            Teresa picked up Scarlet. "I'm going to the park!" She said.

            "Fine by me." Ash said. "I'm going back to the center to take a nap."

            "_Come to me, my servants of darkness! I, the mistress of the dark forest, summon you to my aid! Revelation!_" Teresa chanted. A black magic circle surrounded her. From it, lines of fire spread in a star formation. Out of the center rose hooded black shadows, leering evilly.

            "You did well." Scarlet said in satisfaction. The red light died out of Teresa's eyes slowly.

            "I did?"

            "Yes. The master will be well pleased."

            "Soon, I'll be as powerful as Ash is." Teresa said.

            "Or even more powerful." 

            "And then I can make him love me." Teresa's lips curled up in an evil scowl as she laughed chillingly.

            Ash sneezed.

            Pika-chan handed him a box of Kleenex.

            "Thanks, Pika-chan." Ash said. "I wonder if someone was talking about me?"

            "Maybe!"

End Episode 71!

C&CC make me _very_ happy! Flames will be used to forge Nightmare (my creation), and I'll set the card loose in Nelvana forever after I combine it with Sleep!

Yep, I put up 3 chapters, sorry I didn't update earlier but my network was out due to heat. Yes, the weather in California can knock out the internet, plus ff.net was down a couple of times too.


	32. Setting off for the Cosmos League!

Episode 70! Another multiple of 10! Score!  
  


Disclaimer: Yes, of course I own pokemon. Bow down to me! *Holds up dark blue staff with silver designs on it* Just then, scientist in white coat runs in holding tranquilizer darts and shoots Shadow. She slumps over.

Scientist: Sorry, the drugs we're giving our test subject makes her irrational. Do not believe her rants. Nintendo owns pokemon.

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ are indicative of translated pokemon speech. Oh, and Teresa is evil.

Guy Shani – thank you guy!

Fire Eevee – Teresa keeps her dark magic, but no cards. Cards are special, you'll see later on in the series I think…

The Pokemon Reader – okay, I accept your apology, and thank you!

Ranma – obsession is good! Too bad Charlotte won't be there to see it, as Ash will be leaving Cosmos soon.

Hell Flame Vulpix – I love hyperness! ^_^

SnowTiger – don't worry, as Teresa stays. *looks at people who don't like her, well, I don't like her much myself, but its my story and she's vital to the plot* no smooth sailing ahead though!

Xaero – sorry, I can't make this Ash/Charlotte, I would get flamed for writing a Mary-Sue and I really hate that, plus I'm already pairing Ash with someone else (not Teresa) later in the series, he's only 13 now. However, if you request an Ash/Charlotte story, I might be able to arrange that.

Episode 72: Setting off for the Cosmos League!  
  


            "So, where are the championship trials held?" Ash asked.

            Charlotte stirred her flavored coffee slowly. "Moonstone City."

            "I bet its all white…" Ash muttered.

            "It is. Good deduction skills. There are bits of silver and pink too, though…"

            Ash fell over. "It was just a jest!" His eyes crossed and he sweatdropped profusely.

            "So, where's Teresa?" Vulpix-chan asked as she lapped up some chocolate milk from Charlotte's mug.

            "Probably still outside." Pika-chan remarked as she sipped Ash's strawberry milkshake. The two Chosen were too busy to notice what their guardians were doing to the food.

            Suddenly, Ash stiffened. "Sorry, the air suddenly seemed darker."

            "Something must be coming." Charlotte said, reaching for her key. "Let's go check it out – VULPIX-CHAN!"

            "What?" Vulpix-chan asked innocently as she licked the bottom of the empty mug. 

            "You drank my chocolate milk!"

            "So?" 

            Ash would have laughed, but when he peered in his milkshake glass, he saw that it was empty, and that Pika-chan was licking a smear of strawberry syrup off one of her paws. 

            "Pika-chan! How could you?" Ash demanded.

            Pika-chan jumped out of Ash's swatting range. "Next time, pay more attention!" She giggled as she dashed out the door.

            Ash ran after her.

            Charlotte scooped up a protesting Vulpix-chan and headed outside. "Wait for me, Ash!"

            "What are _those_?!" Ash demanded.

            Charlotte peered at them closely. "They seem to be a variety of Shadow creatures. I suppose you could call them Shadows…"

            "What are they?"

            "They were once humans." Charlotte said. "However, they were tricked into sinister bargains with the being of darkness and now, they are shades of humanity, not dead, but not really alive either. They are very dangerous."

            Ash reached for his key. "What are they afraid of?"

            "Fire and water."  
            "Great!" Ash said. "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!"

            "Key that hides the power of sunlight, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Charlotte commandeth you, Release!"

            "Firey!" Charlotte said. From her card a huge being of fire, representing an angel of flame, appeared and began hurling bolts of fire at the Shadows.

            "Ninetails!" Ash said, throwing out the fiery fox pokemon. "Use your Fire Spin to trap them!"

            Soon, most of the Shadows had been dispatched. Ash breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew Ninetails. "Wow, that was tiring…"  
            Pika-chan raced over and caught him in her big form. "Looks like you need some rest! Why didn't you just use Moltres?" She continued to berate Ash for a few minutes. He just tuned her out.

            "Probably…" Ash said as he yawned widely. * I _did_ change a pokemon card, after all… *

            Just then, Teresa showed up. "Did I miss something?"

            "No." Vulpix-chan said curtly. * She's such a dork… *

            Charlotte shrugged. "Not much. Ash is tired, so we're taking him back to the pokemon center." Her staff shrunk back to key form and appeared in her left hand. The group began walking back.

            Teresa followed, Scarlet perched on her shoulder.

            My shielding is very good. They still think I'm just an ordinary Rattata. Scarlet said proudly.

            Teresa nodded. * Maybe I have to force Ash to notice me… *

            Three days later…

            "Can I get out of bed now?" Ash pleaded.

            "But Ash, one of the Shadows hit you with a timed spell. It still hasn't activated yet, and we're not sure what's going to happen." Pika-chan said.

            "But I feel fine!"

            Vulpix-chan came in, carrying a bowl of chicken soup on her head. "We could always just scan for darkness."

            Ash took the soup. "What did you say?"

            "There's a spell Charlotte knows, it uses light to flush out darkness in a person's magic. That includes magic that was placed there by another person." Vulpix-chan said, tossing Pika-chan a bag of candy.

            "Mmm… sounds good to me." Pika-chan said as she crunched on the strawberry drops, coated with sugar crystals.

            "Nothing to lose." Angel said. He wasn't a very talkative guardian.

            "We have to wear costumes for a simple spell?" Charlotte demanded.

            "But they're pretty!" Teresa said.

            Charlotte glared at the pink satin jacket and skirt. * I _hate_ pink… *

            "Please?" Vulpix-chan asked with huge shimmery baby Vulpix eyes as shiawase bubbles filled the room. The pink bow on her head glittered.

            Charlotte sighed. "Fine." * Wonder what Ash has to wear… * She finished tying the pink ribbons into her hair and sighed again.

            Ash looked annoyed as he tied the pink sash that held his pink pants up. Even worse, Teresa had brushed them with pink glitter paint.

            "Pika-chan, I'm going to kill you…"

            Pika-chan tossed him his shirt and shrugged, unconcerned. She tied the little bow that held her tiny pink cape on and beamed radiantly.

            His pink shirt went over his head, and over that went a pink cape, brushed with silver glitter paint in starry patterns. His feet went in pink sneakers.

            "Seriously, Pika-chan, pink is **_NOT_** my color!"

            "I think it looks nice." Pika-chan said in a chirpy voice.

            "You're trying not to laugh!"

            Pika-chan burst out in a fit of giggles.

            Flames came out of Ash's ears. "PIKA-CHAN!"

            A few minutes later, two beet red Chosen stood in front of a camera on a tripod, in the Aquamarine City pokemon center.

            "Let's get this over with." Ash said, fidgeting.

            "Sounds good to me." Charlotte said. She pointed her left hand at him. The first two fingers on her left hand were outstretched. They began to glow with white light.

            "Ooh." Teresa said. * This looks cool! Maybe I can copy it! *

            In a few minutes, a small ball of white light had formed. It shot towards Ash and vanished into his torso.

            Ash winced, expecting pain any instant, but nothing happened.

            "What? But I thought-."

            "Don't worry about anything, that will just make the spell take longer. Relax." Charlotte ordered.

            Ash grimaced a bit, but sat down and tried to calm down. Five minutes later, the white ball re-emerged, but it had a tiny ball of darkness in its 'arms'.

            "That's what Light of Truth does." Charlotte said as she crushed the ball of darkness between two fingers. "It seeks out all the darkness."

            "Hmm…" Ash said. * That's interesting. I wonder if I can learn that spell? I'll check my spell books… but first… *

            "Can we get out of this getup now?"

            Teresa sighed and put away her camera. "You guys are no fun."

            Ash stuck his tongue out at her.

            Charlotte and Ash both walked off to change.

            "Honestly! How do you put up with her?"

            Ash shrugged. "I don't know. She used to be slightly better. I think she's more annoying as a girl."

            Charlotte blinked.

            Ash elaborated. "Teresa is the reincarnated form of Todd the photographer."

            "Oh."

            "Yeah, boys are kind of more restrained." Ash said. * And his costumes weren't as frilly… *

            Charlotte caught that drift of thought and giggled softly.

            "Are you going to the Cosmos League now?"

            "Why not!"

            "Okay, we can leave tomorrow morning."

            "Sounds good to me." They parted and left.

End Episode 72! *Sighs* Wow, so many episodes! Flames will be used to forge a faerie Aisha! Then, she will seek out all the evil dubbers and destroy them! *CACKLES*


	33. A heated match! Battle on the field of l...

Episode 71!

Disclaimer: Of course I own pokemon! How dare you suggest that I don't – hey! Put those tranquilizers away!  
Scientist: Please do not listen to our patient. She is suffering from a delusion. At least it is relatively harmless. Anyways, Nintendo owns pokemon, and so do Game FREAK, 4Kids, Shogakukan comics, etc.

Notes: indicates psychic communication, ** indicates thoughts, italics indicates translated pokémon language…

Episode 73: A heated match! Battle on the field of lava!

            "Hello. Welcome to the Cosmos League." The receptionist said. "How may I help you?"

            "I would like to enter the league championships." Ash said. Pika-chan was hiding in his backpack.

            "Very well. Let me see your badges, please." The lady said. "My! You have both the Uranus and Neptune badges?"

            "Yes, why?"

            "That's great! In that case, you can skip the first level of challengers and just enter at the second level."

            "How cool is that!" Teresa said ecstatically.

            Ash grinned. * Wow! This is cool! *

            "There are five levels." Charlotte said, holding out a rulebook. "The first level is on the rock field. The second is the lava field, the third is the steel field, the fourth is the ice field, and the last one is the nova field."

            "Nova?" Ash asked.

            "Simulated outer space."  
            "That sounds really hard." Teresa said.

            "It _is _really hard." Charlotte said. "That's why nobody has defeated the League Champion for four years."

            "Well, I get to skip the rock field." Ash said. * Wait a second! A lava field? How do I fight on that? *

            "Most people use fire type or rock-type pokemon for the lava field. Either that or they use flying-types that can stay out of the range of lava."

            "Smart." Ash said. "But I don't have any fire type pokemon besides Flareon…"  
            Charlotte rolled her eyes. Ash, need I remind you that you're a card master now? 

            Oh yeah! 

            Crunching sounds came from Ash's backpack. 

            "Where did Vulpix-chan go?"

            Ash looked worried and opened his backpack. Inside, he saw the two guardians, munching on walnut wafer cookies.

            "You guys! Those were for me!"

            "But it's polite to bring a guest food!" Pika-chan protested.

            "Pika-chan, that is my backpack, NOT a restaurant!"

            Pika-chan shrugged.

            "I can't believe it." Ash said, three hours later. The guardians were still eating, this time out of the fruit basket.

            "You'd better believe it." Charlotte said offhandedly. "Guess you're using Flareon for the lava field, right?"

            "Yep."

            "Good luck! I'll be cheering for you. Speaking of which, Teresa made me a cheerleading outfit…"

            "No way!"

            "Yes way." Charlotte said. She turned around and was changed in five seconds. "Your match is in two minutes, Ash. You'd better hurry!"

            Ash nodded and walked out into the sunlight. * Wow, Teresa didn't make me a costume this time. LUCKY! *

            "Today's match is between the red trainer Ash and the green trainer Patrick!" The announcer blared. 

            "Flareon, I choose you!" Ash said.

            "Magmar, I choose you!" Patrick shouted.

            Both fire-types materialized on the lava field. It wasn't solely lava, since there was a small platform in it, and several boulders jutting out of the smoking arena that the combatants could land on.

            "Go Ash!" Charlotte and Pika-chan yelled.

            Ash gave them a small wave.

            "Magmar, use Smog!" A layer of poisonous gas streamed towards Flareon.

            "Flareon, counter it with your own Smog!" The gases hit each other and exploded in a layer of diaphanous smoke, which set most everyone to coughing.

            "Flareon, Bite!" Flareon nodded and clamped its teeth down on one of Magmar's legs. It toppled into the lava.

            "Magmar, get up!" Patrick yelled.

            "It's not going to work." Ash said. * Flareon's Bite attack hurt it pretty badly… I'm sorry, Magmar, but I need to win this match… *

            "Yay!" Pika-chan cheered.

            Angel was taking bets for Ash and Patrick. He figured that if he had to watch a match that was pretty pointless, he should at least get paid for it… as of right now most people were betting that Patrick would win.

            "Magmar, return!" Patrick said, furious that this chump from nowhere could just take out his pokemon with no problem. "Try this for size! Donphan, I choose you!"

            Ash winced. Another pokemon with no pokédex data…

            Donphan is a ground type. 

            Great. Fire is weak to ground. Ash thought. Should I keep Flareon out there? No, I should switch too… 

            "Flareon, return! Might as well use my advantage… Skymew, I choose you!"

            Sabrina smiled as she was let out. I normally don't enjoy battling that much, but this person seems like a jerk. I'll just let Skymew handle it. 

            Skymew did a few little cartwheels. Yay! I get to battle! Why didn't you use me against Michelle? 

            Ash blinked. Oops. Sorry. 

            It's okay, since I like resting. Skymew said. I'll use – Bubblebeam! The water attack slammed into Donphan, sending it flying into the lava.

            "Not again!" Patrick said. "Get up, Donphan! And then use Rollout!"

            Donphan rammed into Skymew, who jumped out of the way. Fine then! I'll use SURF! This attack nearly drowned Donphan with the sheer volume of water.

            Donphan went swirly-eyed.

            "Donphan, quick! Use Body Slam!" Donphan rushed at Skymew and slammed into it. 

            Skymew's Teleport attack saved her from the lava. That's it! I've had enough! HYPER BEAM! 

            "I didn't know Skymew knew Hyper Beam." Pika-chan commented. "Must be Sabrina's influence showing itself."

            Charlotte shrugged. "Ash's chances seem to have improved."

            "Donphan is unable to battle!"

            "Fine!" Patrick said. He was really angry by now. "Glimskunk, I choose you!" What looked like a black-and-gold skunk materialized? "Use Thunder!"

            Skymew brought up her bubble shield as protection.

            Skymew, I think it will be safer if you return. Ash sent. Skymew nodded and went back into its poke ball.

            "Who else can take the lava? Oh well, I don't have much of a choice here… Graveler, go!" Ash said, changing the pokemon card. Nobody noticed the brief flash of white light as the card changed.

            Our magic dampeners work. Pikachu said.

            So do the illusions. Charlotte replied. That's good. 

            "Glimskunk, use Thunderwave!"

            Ash blinked. "Graveler, use Rock Throw!" Graveler nodded and buried Glimskunk in some rocks.

            "Glimskunk, use Headbutt to break out of it!"

            Glimskunk tried, but its head wasn't too strong. It couldn't escape from its stone prison.

            "Glimskunk is unable to battle! This match goes to Ash!" 

            The stadium rang with cheers.

            "Yay!" Pika-chan and Charlotte gave each other high-fives. "You did great, Ash!"

            "I'm so proud of you!" Pika-chan sniffled, in a motherly way.

            Ash smiled as the confetti drifted down. * Wow! I made it through the first round! Maybe this won't be so bad after all! *

            Angel smiled and collected his bets. * Wow, I made $6700 today! *

            Bob scowled and closed his mirror. "I'm still not strong enough. I'll have to use my avatar, then…"

            "You mean the girl."

            "Yes."

            "Isn't she your last card to play?"

            "Good point. Hmm…" Bob looked at his stack of cards. "Aha! Dark pokemon can operate on their own… how about, Dark Alakazam?"

            The pokemon card bowed and vanished.

End Episode 73! Reviews are exceedingly welcome! My pet Squirtle will douse any flames. *Smiles*


	34. Watch your step! Battle on the steel fie...

Episode 72!  
  


Disclaimer: No, Shadow does not own pokemon. *Glares at scientists who are rubbing their hands gleefully* It belongs to Nintendo, Game FREAK, 4Kids, etc.

Notes: As always, _italics_ will be indicative of translated pokemon speech, will show telepathic communication, and ** will mean thoughts.

Ranma – Hehehe, thank you! ^_^ 

Hell Flame Vulpix – my, someone is excited. Well, me like squirtles too!

Fire Eevee – and the answers! Glimskunk is an electric type. I wouldn't know about aishas being blind, but yes, they do have good hearing. My neopets username is 'phantomness', and Glimskunk's four attacks that I've written out are Thunder, Thunderwave, Thundershock, and Headbutt.

SnowTiger – what will happen next? Not always the safest question to ask the authoress…

The Pokemon Reader – I know, I'm posting!

Episode 74: Watch your step – battle on the steel field!  
  


            "So what _is_ the steel field like, anyways?" Ash asked. He and his pokemon were at a restaurant, pigging out on the free food.

            Charlotte took a sip of her chocolate milkshake before she answered. "Well, it's like a bunch of steel bars in a crisscross pattern. Imagine a grid. The bars are the lines and there are spaces in between. People usually use larger pokemon for this field, because the small ones could get stuck between the bars."

            In one hand, an illusion formed. "See?"  
            Ash thought hard. "Hmm… I could use Pidgey, because she can fly, but that might be the only one. Skymew, do you want to battle?"

            Skymew looked up from her blueberries and cereal. Well, I could, but I would rather let one of the others take a turn. I feel a bit tired. 

            "Eterneon might work. Or any of the other eevelutions could too. They are very agile."

            "Hmm…."  
            "Just take it easy." Vulpix-chan said, as she munched on her fish filet.

            "Your pokemon will do their best for you!" Pika-chan said, pouring herself another glass of hot chocolate with marshmallows.

            Ash nodded.

            Teresa and Scarlet were running laps in the park. Scarlet explained that magical training did have somewhat of a basis in physical health, so she had to be in very good shape to make her magic more effective.

            "Phew." Teresa said, wiping a drop of sweat out of her eyes. "Can we take a break?"

            "Fine." Scarlet said. "We've run two miles. Good job." He procured a bottle of dark red liquid and handed it to her.

            "This is nightshade potion. Very good for you." Scarlet said.

            Teresa nodded and drank it. It burned a little going down, like a spicy drink, but otherwise she was fine. 

            Scarlet smiled to himself. With the aid of items, her fall to darkness would speed up rapidly.

            Teresa took a few deep breaths. "Okay, I think I'm ready now."

            She and Scarlet stretched for about fifteen minutes and then began running again.

            The next day…

            "I look like a robot." Ash said. He was wearing shiny silver pants and a silver breastplate with sleeves attached to it. He also had bulky white gloves with blue spots on one side, and white boots that went up to his knees. A silver molded space helmet that fit his head very well replaced his league cap. The blue clear visor on the helmet covered his entire face.

            "Well, it _is_ the steel field." Charlotte said. She wore her white cheerleader's outfit with the blue skirt and was holding pom-poms. 

            "Go Ash!" Pika-chan cheered.

            Ash sighed. "Guess I might as well go out and face the crowds… my match starts in a minute, anyways."

            Pika-chan gave him a 'V' for victory before she teleported herself and Charlotte to the stands.

            "Now, on the steel field, we have the red trainer Ash versus the green trainer Caroline!" Cried the announcer.

            Caroline burst out laughing when she saw Ash's outfit. Ash felt his face heat up, but he managed not to react.

            "The match will now begin!" Cried the ref.

            "Steelix, I choose you!" Caroline said.

            Ash winced. Pika-chan, what _is_ that?! 

            Evolution of Onix, Steel/ground type. Use a fire-type against it. Charlotte whispered.

            Thank you. Ash said. "Okay, let's do it! Flareon, I choose you!"

            Flareon appeared, sniffed the air, twitched her ears, and stared at the Steelix with a bit of surprise.

            "Steelix, use Rock Throw!" Steelix nodded and launched a barrage of rocks at Flareon. She barely managed to dodge them all.

            "Flareon, use Fire Spin!" Ash called.

            Flareon nodded and surrounded the Steelix with a ring of fire. However, since Fire Spin had pretty low base damage, it didn't do too much.

            "Crunch!" Caroline said.

            "Flareon, use Quick attack!" Flareon jumped out of the way, and then charged into Steelix, sending it flying only a few feet. Flareon managed to land on one of the steel beams safely, but Steelix's tail got stuck.

            "Now use Flamethrower!" Flareon nodded and breathed out enough flame to consume the Steelix. Cries of pain came from the trapped pokemon.

            "Argh! Steelix, return!" Caroline said. Her pretty face twisted with rage. "Try this, then! Golem!"

            Ash thought quickly. * Golem's bulk will make it slower, and if it gets stuck between bars, then we can nail it. The problem is, I'm not sure if Flareon can avoid all of its attacks… *

            _I'm not sure if I can do this._ Flareon confided.

            "That's okay." Ash said. "Flareon, return! Let's try – Eterneon! I choose you!"

            The crowd oohed and aahed at the pretty pokemon.

            "Golem, use Tackle!"

            Eterneon flew up into the air, out of the way. Then, she smiled and blasted Golem with Psychic. Golem flew towards the trainer's stand, but managed to skid to a stop.

            "Grr! Golem, get up! Use Rock Throw!" More rocks headed for Eterneon. Eterneon's eyes glowed and she teleported away.

            Ash smiled. You're good at this, Eterneon.   
            Of course I am. Are you going to give me any specific orders, or should I just attack by myself? Eterneon asked as she blasted Golem with Light Ray.

            The stars all hit their target. 

            You're doing fine. Ash said, smiling. How about a Light Beam to finish it off? 

            Eterneon nodded. Golem fell like a toppling tree.

            "Oh no! golem, Return!" Caroline cried. By now, she was feeling exceedingly flustered. What was she doing wrong? Usually her charming nature and good looks would be enough to win her the match, most boys not daring to hurt a pretty girl like her. But her strategy wasn't working at all this time!

            "Great job, Ash!" Charlotte called. Ash gave her a thumbs-up and turned back to the battle.

            "Magneton, go!"

            "So she's a steel and rock-type user…" Ash said, a tiny bit interested. "Okay then. Eterneon, do you think you have enough energy to fight another round?"  
            Eterneon yawned. Probably.   
            "Okay then. Eterneon, use Psybeam!"

            "Magneton, use Lock-On!" Magneton was hit squarely in the center with the psychic attack, but it kept tracking Eterneon.

            "Sonicboom!"

            Eterneon went flying, but then she spread her wings and banked sharply, before hitting Magneton with a Sacred Fire attack.

            Magneton went down in a hurry.

            "And Ash wins this round!" The announcer announced. Several cheers and whistles rang out.

            "Great job, Ash!" Charlotte called. Ash jumped up and down happily as he hugged Eterneon and Flareon.

            Teresa snapped a picture, and then shut down her video camera. * And it's all on tape, too! *  
            After celebrations were over, the trio returned to the pokemon center.

            "I think only Flareon needs healing." Ash said.

            "That's good. Right?"

            "Yep." Ash handed over his tired Flareon to Nurse Joy, along with some fresh berries for her. Flareon smiled happily and wagged her tail.

            "Let's go out to dinner!" Pika-chan suggested. She had changed out of her cheerleading outfit already.

            "Fine by me." Ash said, knowing that the restaurants were serving the pokemon trainers competing in the Cosmos League for free.

            "Why not?" Charlotte asked.

            "Cool!" Teresa chimed in.

            Soon, a group headed for the nearest restaurant. The poor manager was a bit overwhelmed by all the orders, but he did eventually bring everything. Considering that the two gluttonous guardians were present, it took a long time.

            Fortunately, by nightfall, everyone was well fed and it was a happy group that trailed back to the pokemon center.

End Episode 74! Hmm… I know! Flames will be used to forge Libra, so she can tell the world of the horrors Nelvana has done to CCS! Yeah!

After Episode 78 I'm starting another new arc, okay?


	35. Futures carved in ice! Battle on the ice...

Hi! *Smiles happily* Welcome to Shadowphantomness' fanfic! 

Disclaimer: Of course Shadow owns pokemon! *Pulls out Wand of Flamebolt and stares angrily at scientists* you thought you guys won, didn't you! Well, you didn't, so prepare to die! Hahahaha!

Notes: specifies telepathy, ** means thoughts, and _italics_ indicates translated pokemon speech! Yatta! 

Episode 75: Futures carved in ice! Battle on the ice field!

            "Teresa, I look like an Eskimo!" It was the next day and Ash was in the locker room, ready to go on. He was dressed in a furry dark brown parka trimmed with white fur (it went down to his knees), blue jeans, dark blue snow boots, and white mittens. 

            "But the ice field is really cold!" Teresa protested.

            "She _does_ have a point there, Ash." Charlotte said. She wore a dark blue jacket trimmed with white fur over her cheerleading outfit. "The arena is solid ice…"

            "See? Even Charlotte agrees with me!" Teresa said.

            "I have no complaints." Pika-chan said, she was wearing her own tiny brown parka with a hood and the hood was pulled over her head. Ash hadn't put his own hood on yet.

            Ash sighed. Loudly. But he bravely went outside.

            "Now, for our fourth match on the ice field! The red trainer Ash Ketchum will be fighting the green trainer Bob Shepard!"

            Ash thought quickly. * Bob uses mostly dragon-types, right? Wait… could it be _him_? No way! But still… *

            Charlotte and Pika-chan tensed. "That's!"

            "I just hope Ash can pull through the battle." Pika-chan whispered.

            Vulpix-chan and Angel snuck off. We'll be watching… 

            "Dragonite, I choose you!"

            "Skymew, I choose you!" Ash said. Skymew appeared, to much applause from the audience.

            "Dragonite, let's make this quick! Swat it down with Hyper Beam!"

            "Skymew! Bubble shield!" Skymew nodded and the protective blue bubble went up around her. The Hyper Beam just bounced off.

            Now I'll use Ice Beam! Skymew said, as she threw the beam of freezing liquid at Dragonite.

            Dragonite tried to dodge, but it nailed a wing.

            Skymew put her hands on her hips. Have you had enough? 

            _No way! I'm not going to lose to a weak pokemon like you!_ Dragonite swore.

            Suit yourself. Skymew said. Then I'll use – BLIZZARD! This attack took Dragonite down with a bang.

            "Amazing!" The announcer crowed. "And Bob is now down one pokemon! What will he use next?"

            "Might as well match type for type." Bob said. "Scarlet, go!" A red Gyrados appeared in the ring.

            Both flying-water types… Ash thought to pika-chan. Should I switch? 

            Suit yourself. Pika-chan said.

            "Dragon Rage!"

            "Skymew, Spark!" The electricity collected in a ball on Skymew's tail and she flung it at Gyrados.

            Gyrados's dragon rage managed to deflect some of it, though. So it was still standing.

            "Hyper Beam!"

            Ash rolled his eyes. * Doesn't he use anything else? Oh well. * "Use Thunder!"

            Skymew looked a bit puzzled, but nodded and called down some electricity from the sky, striking Gyrados down.

            "Fire Blast!"

            Ash winced. * So that's what a Red Gyrados can do… hmm… *

            "Water Gun!"

            The two attacks cancelled again. Skymew flew a few feet away from Gyrados, ready to fight again.

            "Hyper Beam!" This time, Skymew didn't get out of the way fast enough and slammed into Ash's platform.

            "Skymew, use Recover!" Skymew nodded and healed itself.

            Bob took this chance to spray his Gyrados with Max Potion. "Use Hyper Beam again!"

            "Sheesh, how many of those does it have? Skymew, Teleport!"

            Skymew nodded and vanished from view, reappearing above Gyrados's head.

            Ash closed his eyes. * Might as well try this. * "Match Thunder!"

            Skymew almost smirked as Ash transferred some of Sunny's knowledge to the floating pokemon. The electric attack crashed down on Gyrados, taking it out.

            However, Skymew was so tired from all that energy that she fainted also.

            "Double K.O.!" The referee said. "Each will now pick his last pokemon!"

            "Aerodactyl, I choose you!"

            Ash frowned. * Another dragon? Figures… *

            "Skymew, you did great, girl! Come back! Storm, go!" * Might as well match dragon to dragon… *

            The crowd sighed and cheered.

            Bob's jaw dropped.

            "Storm, use Tsunami!" Storm nodded and a terrible typhoon began to brew. Water mixed with ice and electricity crashed into Aerodactyl at gale force speeds. Aerodactyl didn't really have much of a chance.

            Ash smiled as it toppled. "I win!"

            Bob cursed. It was so diabolical and twisted that I'm not putting it down. In any case, everyone else in the stadium was rather disturbed.

            "Come on, it's just a match." A random audience member said.

            Bob incinerated the unfortunate man.

            "It's definitely him." Charlotte whispered to Pika-chan as they slunk out. "Time to get ready."

            Pika-chan nodded and transformed.

            Angel and Vulpix-chan crept out of the shadows, already transformed.

            "Now you die!" Bob shouted as he threw a Hyper Beam at Ash. Ash quickly shielded himself in mist and teleported out.

            "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!" The golden magic circle surrounded him and he grabbed his staff.

            "I hope this will work…" Ash thought as he took out the Destiny card. "Destiny!" The card's magic enveloped him in a swirl of white misty strands. His clothes melted away and were replaced by decorative golden armor. The white feathery fringes appeared around his face, contrasting with his black hair. Tufts of white feathers covered his thighs, and his legs changed into sharp golden talons. A pair of golden armlets appeared on his arms. From the back of his armored 'skirt' trailed three long white feathers. A double pair of white wings sprouted from his shoulders, glinting brightly in the sun's glare.

            Meanwhile…

            "Sleep!" Charlotte said, releasing the little red pixie. "Could you put all the people to sleep for me, please?" Sleep nodded happily and went about her business, sprinkling powder everywhere.

            "Great! Now where's Ash?" Charlotte felt out with her magic and felt his aura close by. "Good."

            "Charizard, go!" She said, sending out the pokemon. It charged Bob angrily and got him good with Flamethrower.

            Bob angrily hissed. "Who are you to challenge me?"

            Charlotte grinned. "Charlotte Angel. Fire master of the triple guardianship, and Sun card master." Her ruby-red wings caught the light and glowed brightly. "And now that the sun is at its brightest, my power is at its strongest. FIREY!" This time, the fire angel nailed Bob, pinning him down.

            "I'm here too!" Ash said. "Destiny, a.k.a. Lightning master of the triple guardianship. Oh, and pokemon card master too. Take this! ZAPDOS!" The card glowed brightly as it changed into an Ash tree card.

            "NOOOO!" Bob screamed in frustration. "Not this! But you need all three elements to beat me!"

            "Perhaps I can be of assistance then." A voice said. "BLIZZARD!" A barrage of ice shards slammed into Bob.

            "Now!" Pika-chan said. They nodded and flung out the Seal.

            Bob was trapped. He screamed in rage as the seal settled over his features, turning him into gray mist and sealing him indefinitely.

            Both Chosen breathed a sigh of relief.

            "Who?" Pika-chan asked, turning around to face the third player. However, his face was shadowed.

            "I should leave now. Loop!" And with that, he vanished.

            Ash gasped. "That's the person from my dreams. Wait! Don't go!" But it was too late. The person had already vanished.

            "Well, at least you know how to get home now. And we _did_ seal Bob." Charlotte said.

            Ash nodded grimly.

End Episode 75! Flames will be used to create Fly, so I can release it in huge bird form and set it on Nelvana! Mwahahaha! 


	36. Nova field! Explosions galore!

Episode 74! *Cheers*

Disclaimer: No, Shadow does not own pokemon. *Sighs* But I do own Destiny, Charlotte, Pika-chan, Vulpix-chan, Angel, Skymew, Eterneon, Light Ray, etc…

Notes: indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, _italics_ indicates pokemon talking. I think that's it… oh, and the shadowy figure is Lance…

Note: Ash is still staying in CP dimension because he's not quite sure how to create Loop yet…

Episode 76: Nova field! Explosions galore!

            "One more match and I'll be able to become League Champion!" Ash said happily, as he sipped from his chocolate malt.

            "You're doing very well." Charlotte commented.

            Ash grinned bashfully. "Thanks."

            "I'll be cheering for you again." 

            "Well, I'm glad you were there, because we got to beat Bob." Ash said. "But I'm so tired…"

            "I know. You'd better rest before you attempt to create Loop. It's harder to create a card than to change a pokemon card."

            "I know…"

"Maybe you could change Alakazam?"

            "Good idea." Pika-chan approved. "Wow, these French fries are delicious!" 

            "But Alakazam itself isn't strong enough." Ash protested.

            "Then you'll have to change Alakazam _and_ another psychic-type."

            "Hypno?"

            "That's the next best." Pika-chan said. "Well, we'd better go prepare for your match tomorrow."

            Ash nodded.

            Teresa had little starry eyes. * And I got it all on tape! *

            The next day…

            Ash was fidgeting. He was dressed in a black shirt with hundreds of little white stars on it, and black pants with the same design. He also had black slippers, but was unfortunately gloveless.

            "Let's make this quick." His opponent, a girl named Crysta, snapped.

            Ash frowned. * She doesn't have to be so _rude_. *

            "Fine."

            "READY, GO!"

            "Sparkle, go!" A fat Raichu materialized in the floating space simulation and peered around curiously.

            Pika-chan looked ready to barf. * Oh LUGIA! How is this possible? A raichu that obese shouldn't exist! *

            "Sunny, I choose you!"

            "Electric to electric? Sparkle, use Mega Kick!"

            "Sunny, dodge and then hit it with Pin Missle!" The needles pinned Raichu to one of the huge floating stars in the area.

            "Darn it, Sparkle! Use Mega Punch!"

            Ash rolled his eyes. * Okay… * Sunny, use Double Kick! 

            Sunny smirked and pounded the Raichu with the fighting type attack, leaving it a battered, bloody, heap.

            Ash smirked. "So, is this fast enough for you?"

            Crysta growled. "Return!"

            "Marowak, go!"

            Sunny, you're at a disadvantage. Can you do this? 

            Of course! Sunny said, smirking. Let's see if she can stand up to my Hydro Thunder Attack! The water drenched Marowak thoroughly, before it was zapped with ten thousand volts of electricity.

            Sunny smirked.

            The Marowak teetered and fell over.

            "Oh no! Marowak, please, get up! Use Bonemerang!" The bone headed for Sunny, who jumped out of the way. 

            Heh, still standing. How about Thunder Freeze then? Electricity mixed with ice headed for Marowak. In a few seconds, it was a very lovely ice statue.

            Sunny posed.

            "Great job, Sunny!" Ash said happily. *Smirk*

            "Darn it! Fine, here's my trump card! Mew, go!"

            "I knew it." Ash said. * I remember a lot of things… *

            "Sunny, come back!" Ash said. * Mew is her best pokemon. I can't use Pika-chan, but maybe… *

            From underneath Ash's costume, his key glowed faintly. * Yes… that will work very well… * Slowly, strands of white energy wove themselves into a new card.

            Charlotte and Pika-chan felt the magic and frowned at each other.

            Ash! What are you doing?! 

            You'll drain yourself! 

            I'll be fine. Ash murmured. His eyes were glazed over, as he poured more energy into his new creation.

            "Well?" Crysta tapped her foot impatiently. "What are you waiting for?"  
            "Impatient, aren't you…" Ash said. Finally, the card formed in his hands. "Spiritwolfe, I choose you!" A black-purple wolf with three blood-red stripes on each leg, a flowing white mane with gold flecks, silver stripes on its back, red eyes, and a gold mask around its eyes appeared. It was a dual electric/dark type.

            "Mew, use Psychic!" The attack passed right through Spiritwolfe, who smirked slightly.

            "Spiritwolfe, Shadow Ball!" Spiritwolfe nodded and the attack blasted straight into Mew, causing it to shriek and cower.

            "Mew, Bubble Shield!"

            "Spiritwolfe, use Faint Attack!" Spiritwolfe disappeared and reappeared inside Mew's shield, managing to get in a Faint Attack before it was ejected.

            "Damn it!" Crysta said angrily. * I can't lose to a kid like him! * "Mew, Transform!"

            "Oh no you don't! Frameshift!" In an instant, time stopped and Mew found herself sealed in a looped whirl of time. 

            "Now, use Bite." Ash hissed viciously. Spiritwolfe nodded and sank its canines deep into Mew's tail. Mew shrieked and toppled down.

            "And finally, use Crunch."

            A horrified silence filled the air and Mew crumpled over, bleeding.

            "Mew is unable to battle!" The announcer called.

            "ASH WINS!"

            Confetti drifted down from the stands. Ash beamed radiantly at the crowd. That night, he accepted his trophy and prize money.

            "You must be tired." Charlotte said, slipping him a Max Potion.

            Ash nodded and gulped it down. "When do I fight the Champion?"

            "Whenever you want." Charlotte said. 

            "Really? Wow!"

            "But you'd better wait." Pika-chan reprimanded. "I can't believe you went and created a pokemon card when you _knew_ that you were low on energy!" She sounded exceedingly exasperated.

            Ash looked sheepish.

            "Why did you fight so hard against Crysta?" Vulpix-chan asked. That was kind of vicious, even for you. s

            Ash's eyes narrowed. "She _was_ once my friend. However, she betrayed my trust and tried to brainwash me."

            "Ah." Vulpix-chan said.

            "She claimed to be his sister." Charlotte said, taking a sip of her juice.

            "Of course, that was impossible, I _am_ Destiny, but she refused to back down from her ridiculous claim." Ash said. "I was forced to… dispose of her."

            "Oh."

            "So, what's the champion like?" Teresa asked, finally managing to get a word in.

            "Well…" Charlotte said, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "I'm not sure how to describe her…"  
            Ash yawned. "Well, who is it?" He asked as he drank down some nutritious soup that the fruit basket had provided.

            "She." Vulpix-chan corrected.

            "Fine. Who is she?"

            "Take a guess! You know her very well." Vulpix-chan crooned. Charlotte shot her guardian a dirty look, but Vulpix-chan didn't' notice.

            "Um…"

            After five minutes, Ash still had little question marks over his head.

            Finally, Charlotte decided to rescue the poor befuddled boy.

            "Me."

            Ash dropped his cup. "You?!"

            "What do you expect? I'm the card master in this dimension, so I won really easily."

            "B-but!" Ash spluttered. "I can't beat you!"

            "Sure you can. Have confidence in yourself! Plus electric is more powerful than fire!"

            Ash considered. "But I don't _want_ to fight you. We're friends! Besides, I'm already number 1 in the League, since you don't appear. For all intents and purposes I _am_ the champion already."  
            "Quite right." Charlotte said. "Well, I'm glad you see it that way. I was afraid that you wouldn't understand."

            Teresa looked disappointed.

            "I suppose you'll be going home soon, then."

            Ash nodded. "As soon as I recuperate, I'm going home."

End Episode 76!

Comments and _constructive_ criticism are always good. Hmm… flames will be used to forge the Obliterate card, whom will obliterate Nelvana!

              
  



	37. A light to lead the way home

Episode 75! *Sighs* Well, it's been a long journey… but look how far I am! *Smiles* Well, this ends the Dark Apprentice/Alternate Universe arc. The normal CCA Ashura cards arc will now proceed.

Timeline: 2 weeks later…

Ranma – that's odd, I thought I put in my author's notes who the mysterious person would be. *Laughs* But I think you know who I mean…

Hell Flame Vulpix – better remember! The next arc is the Card Captor Ashura: Eclipse Arc

Fire Eevee – okie dokie! ^_^

SnowTiger – don't worry about this series ending any time soon, I have approximately at least 100 more chapters to go… yes, I know it may seem mind boggling, but… that's the way it is!

The Pokemon Reader – Actually, Teresa doesn't make her move until Ash gets home, but as Ash is getting home very soon…. You get my drift. And don't worry, someone else will be showing up as well!

Episode 77: A light to lead the way home

            Ash, Pika-chan, and Teresa were back in Charlotte's house. Vulpix-chan had explained that since this had been their entry point into the CP dimension, it would also be the exit point.

            "Before you leave, Ash, I have a couple of things to give you." Charlotte said, pulling stuff out of her pockets. First, she pulled out the Triple Devastation Wand.

            "You're giving it to me?!" Ash asked, shocked. "Why?"

            "No, not all of it." Charlotte said. So saying, she reached up and plucked out the glowing yellow jewel. "This is the lightning stone, which rightfully belongs to you as the Lightning master of the triple guardianship." She hesitated, and then gave him the blue stone as well, leaving only the red stone; the fire stone, on the wand. "And when you find the Ice guardian, please give this to him."

            The wand seemed to fold in on itself, before splitting into three. One had the fire stone in the center of a roaring flame, one with the ice stone on the peak of a crashing wave, with another wave above it, and one of the lightning stone in the center of three lightning bolts.

            Ash gasped.

            "Three stones for the three guardians, and three wands to hold them." Charlotte said. "I am the oldest, so I was entrusted with the Triple Devastation Wand. But now, since you, the youngest, have been born, I give you yours. And please give the second guardian his when you locate him!"

            "I promise I will." Ash swore, as he grasped the lightning wand in one hand.

            Teresa sighed. * If I had known, I would have made him a costume! *

            "Here's your second present." Charlotte said, tossing him a round yellow compact mirror, about three inches in diameter. "This will allow us to communicate. But don't abuse it!"

            "I won't." Ash promised as he took it from her.

            "And for Pika-chan…" Charlotte reached into the air in front of her and withdrew a huge chocolate statue of Pika-chan in her true form.

            Pika-chan went all teary-eyed and sighed.

            "I didn't forget you, Teresa." Charlotte promised, tossing Teresa a thick leather-bound book. "_Costumes through the ages_. Have fun designing them for Ash!" Teresa went all starry-eyed in ecstasy. 

            Ash stifled a moan. He looked absolutely terrified. 

            Pika-chan poked him. You have to give your presents too! 

            Right! Ash nodded. "Um, I have gifts for you too." He pulled out a set of stylized red-and-black poke balls. "These are for you, they're good for holding fire pokemon. And this is for Vulpix-chan." A recipe book with 500 dessert recipes came out of his backpack. "And this is for Angel." 

            Angel smiled at the pretty blue collar.

            "I made you a present too!" Teresa said. So saying, she removed a scrapbook filled with pictures of Ash and Charlotte's adventures.

            "Thanks, Teresa." Charlotte said.

            Teresa smiled. * You know, I think I'm not as jealous anymore. Once we go home, Ash will be all mine for the taking! *

            They shook hands.

            "It's almost time." Angel said, glancing at the green clock on the wall. "Are you ready, Ash?"

            Ash nodded. "Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!" The golden magic circle formed around him. Ash reached up and grasped his staff. It solidified in his grip. Ash smiled and gave Charlotte a brief wave.

            "Card created by Clow, please accept this new star power and take your new form! Your new master Ashura commands you, Release!" Two cards flew into the air, glimmering brightly. "Mew! Alakazam!" The lights surrounded them, and Pika-chan and Teresa vanished, but Ash was still there.

            Ash blinked. "What?"

            "I guess you need three cards, then." Charlotte said, sighing. "It takes a lot of energy to navigate through dimensions with teleport, and since you're transporting 3 people and a lot of pokemon…"  
            "Mewtwo!" Ash called, as the card also underwent transformation. "Goodbye!" 

            They waved as he disappeared.

            "Ash? Ash? Earth to Ash!" Ash jerked awake. He was lying on his bed in Pallet Town. But how had he gotten there?

            Pika-chan's face swam into view. "I bet you're tired. You wound up changing 3 very powerful cards."  
            Ash yawned widely, before he collapsed back onto his bed. "I guess you could say that… but at least I'm home!"

            Pika-chan nodded. 

            Ash glanced at the calendar. "What? It's only been 2 days since I left? No way!" He said in disbelief.

            "Yes way."

            "Timeline shift between dimensions is a strange phenomenon." Sabrina said as she appeared in front of him. "You need to rest."  
            "Um, Sabrina, can I ask you a question? You didn't come out much when you were in the alternate universe."  
            Sabrina managed a small smile. "I'm a moon guardian, Ash. Unlike Pika-chan, I draw my energy from the reflected moonlight, so I don't usually assume my true form unless you are in danger or I have to."

            "Oh." Sabrina's wings surrounded her and Skymew reappeared, grinning cutely. I'm hungry! 

            "Okay, Skymew, I'll make you a blueberry smoothie."

            Yay! 

            "So, what's next?"

            "We're going to Cinnabar." Pika-chan said.

            "Eh? But I don't have the Force badge from Candice yet!"

            "You can get it later! Besides, it's faster to Surf to Cinnabar then it is to walk to Lavender…"

            "But I can't legally Surf." Ash sighed.

            "Sure you can! The Saturn badge allows you to Surf!" Pika-chan said.

            "In that case…" Ash said. "Let's get going!"

            They walked to the beach near Pallet. The ocean looked really blue. Ash sent out Vaporeon and climbed on.

            "Okay, let's Surf!" Vaporeon nodded and they streaked off.

            Soon…

            "Pika-chan! Use Thundershock!" Pika-chan nodded and blasted away another Tentacool. * This is getting annoying… *

            Sunny and Jolteon also looked rather peeved. * How many Tentacool are out here anyways? *

            Jolteon shrugged as Pin Missle sent a few more flying. _Hey, it's EXP, right?_

_Right, but we're almost out of PP for ALL of our electric attacks._ Sunny returned. 

_Pin missle is not an electric attack._

_            Well… I'm running out of that too…_

            "I challenge you!" A voice yelled.

            "Oh good. Something else." Ash said in relief. A swimmer swam up.

            "Goldeen, I choose you!"

            "Oddish, go! Use your Absorb!" Oddish nodded and drained the poor Goldeen before it could peck him.

            "Darn! Seaking, go! Use Peck!"

            Oddish looked angrily at the dent on its body. _Grr! I'm angry now! Razor leaf!_ A flurry of leaves headed for Seaking, who managed to dodge a couple. But most of them still hit it.

            Seaking staggered, and fired off a Supersonic from its horn.

            "Poisonpowder!" Oddish nodded and powder drifted down from its leaves, covering Seaking. It began to look sickly almost immediately.

            "Now! Mega Drain!" The energy drained from Seaking brought Oddish's HP back up to almost full health.

            "Wow, you're good." The swimmer said, as he recalled his Seaking.

            "Thanks." Ash said. "How far are we from Cinnabar?"

            "About fifteen minutes' swim."

            "Thank you!" Ash said.

            "Where's Teresa?" Pika-chan finally asked.

            "She teleported to Cinnabar with her Abra."  
            "Oh. Okay!"

            "Let's go!"

            Soon, they arrived on the shore of Cinnabar, tired out.

            "Let's head for the pokemon center."  
            "Sounds good to me." Ash recalled Vaporeon and the group trailed towards the welcoming sight of the poke center.

End Episode 77! Flames will be used to forge the Reality card (mine), and then I'll use it on my Nelvana is evil! Fics to bring them to life! *Cackles*

AHHH! Baka, baka shadow! *Bangs head on wall* The new arc starts right after this episode! I'm sorry! *Cries*


End file.
